Scabbardfish

fieldmarks: Body uniformly silvery. Second anal-fin spine plate-like, twice or more shorter than pupil. Body elongate and compressed; body depth 10.9 to 15.4 times in standard length; anus situated below 36th to 40th dorsal-fin soft ray. Head length 5.7 to 6.8 times in standard length; snout length 2.4 to 2.7 times in head length; upper head profile oblique concave, rising gently from tip of snout to middle of orbits and more steeply to dorsal origin; posterior confluence of frontal ridges behind rear margin of orbits; sagittal crest confined to nape; orbits nearely touching dorsal profile, interorbital space flat or slightly concave; eye diameter 4.9 to 6.1 times in head length; interorbital width 1.3 to 1.6 times in eye diameter; upper jaw length 2.7 to 3.0 times in head length ; palatine teeth present. Gill rakers 17 to 20. Dorsal-fin elements 98 to 110; anal fin with 11 spines, second plate-like or triangular, shorter than pupil, (inserted below 38th to 42nd dorsal-fin soft ray), 59 to 66 soft rays, posterior 15 to 24 soft rays connected by membrane; pelvic fins inserted below eighth to ninth dorsal-fin soft ray, about 1 eye diameter behind posterior end of pectoral-fin base. Pyloric caeca 20 to 29. Vertebrae total 105 to 114, including 38 to 44 precaudal and 65 to 72 caudal. Colour: Body uniformly silvery; dorsal fin blackish grey (in North Atlantic populations) or with black margin of membrane between first 3 soft dorsal-fin rays and seventh to ninth soft rays (in South Hemisphere populations).

Eastern North Atlantic from France to Senegal, including Azores, Madeira, Canaries and offshore seamounts, western Mediterranean (individual stragglers as far north as Iceland and east to Black Sea), off South Africa from Cape Frio to Agulhas Bank, including northern Walvis Ridge, seamounts in southern Indian Ocean along 30 to 35°S, Australia from New South Wales to southern West Australia, and New Zealand. A doubtful record from Cape San Lucas, Mexico (Rosenblatt and Wilson, 1987).

Maximum 205 cm standard length and about 8 kg weight in eastern North Atlantic, usually 100 to 135 cm and 1.0 to 2.3 kg.

Benthopelagicon continental shelf, along its edge and upper slope down to 400 m (600 m in Australia), usually over sandy and muddy bottoms from 100 to 250 m (over 300 m in Australia).Migrates into midwater at night. Occasionally found inshore in upwelling of deep water when it appears at surface. Schooling species.Feeds on crustaceans, small squid and fish. In the southern East Atlantic the most important forage items are Euphausia hanseni, E. luceus, Pasiphaea semispinosa, Sergesthes spp., Todaropsis eblanae, Engraulis capensis, Etrumeus teres, Sardinops ocellata, Maurolicus muelleri, Symbolophorus humbolti, Diaphus dumerili, Lampanyctodes hectoris, Chlorophthalmus sp. and Scomber japonicus (Mikhailin, 1978).Attains length of 125 cm at 9 years of age in southern East Atlantic and 160 cm at age of 13 years in northern East Atlantic (Mikhailin, 1976a). Spawns from end of winter to early spring off North African coast (Wheeler, 1969) and spring to autumn in New Zealand waters (Robertson, 1980).

Important commercial fish species in the eastern North Atlantic, mainly off Portugal and Morocco. Also caught by trawls off Namibia and New Zealand. World annual catches varied in 1985 to 1990 from 7 839 to 21 748 t (FAO, 1992). Flesh excellent.The total catch reported for this species to FAO for 1999 was 11 990 t. The countries with the largest catches were Portugal (2 966 t) and New Zealand (2 638 t).

Second anal-fin spine plate-like. Pyloric caeca 20 - 29. Body uniformly silvery (Ref. 6181). Pelvic fin very small (Ref. 35388).

Oceanodromous. Migrating within oceans typically between spawning and different feeding areas, as tunas do. Migrations should be cyclical and predictable and cover more than 100 km.

Dorsal soft rays (total): 98 - 110; Analspines: 2; Analsoft rays: 59 - 66; Vertebrae: 105 - 114

Occurs on continental shelf, along its edge and upper slope down to 400 m (600 m in Australia), usually over sandy and muddy bottoms from 100 to 250 m (over 300 m in Australia). Depth range from 333-620 m in the eastern Ionian Sea (Ref. 56504). Migrates into midwater at night. Forms schools; occasionally found inshore in upwelling of deep water when it appears at surface. Feeds on crustaceans, small squid and fish (Ref. 6768).

Occur on continental shelf, along its edge and upper slope down to 400 m (600 m in Australia), usually over sandy and muddy bottoms from 100 to 250 m (over 300 m in Australia). Depth range from 333-620 m in the eastern Ionian Sea (Ref. 56504). Migrate into midwater at night. Form schools; occasionally found inshore in upwelling of deep water when it appears at surface. Feed on crustaceans, small squid and fish (Ref. 6768). Eggs and larvae are pelagic (Ref. 6768).

fisheries: highly commercial; gamefish: yes; price category: medium; price reliability: reliable: based on ex-vessel price for this species

The silver scabbardfish (Lepidopus caudatus), also known as the frostfish or beltfish is a benthopelagic cutlassfish of the family Trichiuridae found throughout the temperate seas of the world. It grows to over 2 metres (6 ft 7 in) in length.

Silver scabbardfish sold in Syracuse (Italy)

Known from seamounts and knolls