Butterfish

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Butterfish
Long-fin butterfish (Pholis clemensi)

Long-fin butterfish ( Pholis clemensi )

Systematics
Spinefish (Acanthopterygii)
Perch relatives (Percomorphaceae)
Order : Perch-like (Perciformes)
Subordination : Cottoidei
Partial order : Eel mother relatives (Zoarcales)
Family : Butterfish
Scientific name
Pholidae
Gill , 1893

Butterfish (Pholidae) are a family of 15 species of eel-like elongated marine fish from the group of perch relatives (Percomorphaceae). They live on the seabed, often hidden under rocks in the coastal waters of the northern Pacific and northern Atlantic . In Europe, the Atlantic butterfish ( Pholis gunnellus ) can be found on the coasts of the North and Baltic Seas , around Iceland and near Norway to the south of the Bay of Biscay .

features

The body of the butterfish is flattened on the side and becomes 8 to 46 centimeters long. Your dorsal fin, which extends almost over the entire body, is supported by 75 to 100 stiff fin rays. The anal fin is only half as long and has one to three fin spines and 32 to 53 soft rays. Both fins reach up to the rounded tail fin or have grown together with it. Due to the anal fin, which is shorter in comparison to the body length, the butterfish can be easily distinguished from the spiny backs (Stichaeidae) that occur in the same habitat . In contrast to these, the butterfish do not have any fleshy outgrowths or appendages on the head or body. They have a pair of nostrils. The eyes are close to the top of the head. The mouth is small and steep, the teeth are small and conical. The gill membranes have grown together broadly under the throat. The number of Branchiostegal rays is five or six. Pyloric tubes are missing. The body is slimy and covered with small, inconspicuous cycloid scales. The distance from the tip of the mouth to the beginning of the anal fin is usually greater in butterfish than the distance from the beginning of the anal fin to the beginning of the caudal fin. The pectoral fins are small or rudimentary. They have 7 to 17 fin rays. Ventral fins are tiny with a fin spine and a soft ray. In Apodichthys and some individuals of Pholis fasciata they are absent, along with the pelvic girdle. The number of vertebrae is 80 to 107, the vertebral bodies are asymmetrical. Ribs are missing. The sideline is short or absent. A constant number of lateral line pores are characteristic of the individual cranial bones: two nasal, two occipital, one interorbital, six postorbital, six suborbital, five preopercular and four mandibular. The brownish, yellowish, reddish or green color of the butterfish, often patterned with spots or bands, serves as camouflage in their respective habitat.

Way of life

Butterfish live solitary on rocky surfaces, in the intertidal zone, in tide pools at low tide , in the kelp forest or among other macroalgae. They feed on small molluscs and crustaceans , especially sea lice. The clutch is guarded by the parents.

Internal system

Lattice Butterfish ( Apodichthys flavidus )
Crescent Butterfish ( Pholis laeta )
Ornate Butterfish ( Pholis ornata )

There are fifteen species in four genera and two subfamilies:

use

Butterfish have white, firm, boneless meat and are a popular food fish, especially in America. The European butterfish is of no economic importance because of its small size of 15–30 cm. The fish that are often marketed in Germany under the trade names "Butterfisch" or "Buttermakrele" as smoked fish, but also as frozen or fresh fillet, are other, much larger and high-fat fish species from the family of the mackerel (Gempylidae).

literature

Web links

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