Escolar
| Escolar | ||||||||||||
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Escolar on sale |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name of the genus | ||||||||||||
| Lepidocybium | ||||||||||||
| Gill , 1862 | ||||||||||||
| Scientific name of the species | ||||||||||||
| Lepidocybium flavobrunneum | ||||||||||||
| ( Smith , 1843) |
The Escolar ( Lepidocybium flavobrunneum ), also known as Escolar mackerel or butter mackerel , is a large predatory fish of medium depths (approx. 200 to 1100 m) from the family of the mackerel (Gempylidae). It is the only species of the monotypic genus Lepidocybium .
etymology
Lepidocybium flavobrunneum bears the name Escolar, Spanish for “pupil”, because of the dark circles around the eyes, which are reminiscent of glasses. The scientific name says "yellow-brown scale tuna" ( flavus for yellow, brunneus is Middle Latin for brown; lepis, lepidis f = scale, cybium = κύβιον "cube" [from κυβός, "cube": because the meat is salted in cut into cubes) was] = πηλαμύς = tuna) (Pape 1880).
description
The fish is over two meters long, weighs 45 kg, is slender-torpedo-shaped and only slightly flattened on the side. The trunk is covered by very small cycloid scales.
Fins formula : D VIII-IX (low and set apart) / 16-18, A I-II / 12-14, followed by 5 or 4 flippers; P (short) 15-16, V (good enw., But small) I / 5.
The fish swims carangiform (not anguilliform): this is already indicated by the large keels on the base of its tail. The tail keel on each side is accompanied by smaller keels above and below. The sideline shows a very winding course - as if water eddies behind the pectoral fin were to be avoided by it; their pores are shielded by specially shaped scales. The large eyes are surrounded by a black ring and "shine" greenish through reflection like a cat. They are not “oval”, as is sometimes claimed, but the landed fish turns them inward to protect against injury. The spine consists of 29 vertebrae.
The coloring is light brown at best in juvenile fish, but later it becomes darker and darker, almost black (shimmering blue). The diet consists of fish, octopus and free-swimming crabs. The mouth is large - the maxillary distally covers the premaxillary ; the lower jaw protrudes slightly. The teeth are similar to those of the tuna , but there are often larger dog teeth in front. The vomer is finely toothed.
Occurrence
The Escolar lives in all seas except the polar ones, especially on continental slopes. But it does not seem to be the same everywhere. It appears to be absent in the NW Atlantic, NE Pacific and northern Indian Oceans. More often he is z. B. on the coasts of Japan, the south east coast of the USA and around Australia. Occasionally it is still caught off Northern Norway, around Iceland, off southern Chile; in the Mediterranean only on the coast of Spain and the Maghreb (to Sicily). Eggs and larvae are found in the lighted pelagic , juvenile fish come up at night, even large individuals swim, mainly at night, sometimes close to the surface. Larger temperature differences seem to matter little to them.
"Butterfish" and "White Tuna"
The delicious Escolar is often of tuna - longline caught. The term “butterfish” should sound inviting on canned food as well as on menus or in markets. It has nothing to do with the small butterfish (Pholidae). Research from the US showed that most of the samples sold as " White Tuna " actually contained the meat of the Escolar.
In Cuba it is called “petroleum fish ” (petroleo) because, like the oil fish ( Ruvettus pretiosus ) and the king's escolar ( Rexea solandri ), its closest relatives, its meat contains a lot of monovalent wax or fatty acid esters . It takes in these esters, which cannot be used by the fish, with its food, but can reduce its specific weight so much that it can float in the water without any effort, skeletal reduction or swim bladder . He can also produce these esters himself.
When consumed, especially in larger quantities (the figures vary from around 60 to 170 g), these wax-like lipids can cause diarrhea (keriorrhea), which can often be recognized by orange-colored oily residues in the toilet bowl. Abdominal cramps, headaches and vomiting occur less frequently; the wax esters do not appear to have any harmful effects. However, health authorities in the US and the EU warn against it. In Japan the fish is popular despite the ban ("aburasokomutsu"). It is also known in Germany for its preparation for sushi , but must be labeled when it is sold. In addition, the BfR issued a statement dated November 2, 2009, which indicates the risk of possible health impairments.
Occasionally, the mercury content of the meat is pointed out, which is however comparable to that of other top marine predators such as the tuna . The waxes make up almost 90% of the approx. 20-25% lipids of the weight and could be used in the cosmetics industry and medicine as a substitute for whale rat.
Web links
- Escolar on Fishbase.org (English)
Single receipts
- ↑ CommonNamesList at www.fishbase.org (accessed October 3, 2009)
- ↑ Lepidocybium flavobrunneum at www.fischdb.de (accessed on October 3, 2009).
- ↑ What does Lepidocybium flavobrunneum mean? at www.audioenglish.net (accessed October 3, 2009).
- ↑ From 2010 to 2013, a study by Oceana , an ocean preservation organization, tested over 114 samples of tuna, and found that 84% of the white tuna samples were actually escolar. " National Seafood Fraud Testing Results Highlights . In: Oceana Report . February 21, 2013. Retrieved February 22, 2013.
- ↑ P. Berman, EH Harley, AA Spark: Keriorrhoea - the passage of oil per rectum - after ingestion of marine wax esters. In: South African Medical Journal. Vol. 59, No. 22, 1981, ISSN 0256-9574 , pp. 791-792, ( digital version (PDF; 1.52 MB) ). - Hence the engl. Name castor- or ricinus -oil fish.- κηρός "wax"
- ↑ Health impairments caused by butter mackerel at the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (accessed on October 3, 2009; PDF file; 44 kB).
- ↑ food industry fact sheet ( Memento of July 3, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
- ^ KA Feldman, SB Werner, S. Cronan, M. Hernandez, AR Horvath, CS Lea, AM Au, DJ Vugia: A large outbreak of scombroid fish poisoning associated with eating escolar fish (Lepidocybium flavobrunneum). In: Epidemiology and Infection. Vol. 133, No. 1, 2005, ISSN 0950-2688 , pp. 29-33, doi : 10.1017 / S095026880400322X .
- ↑ www.gesetze-im-internet.de (accessed on June 22, 2012)
- ↑ Health impairments from the consumption of butter mackerel. In: Federal Institute for Risk Assessment. Federal Institute for Risk Assessment, November 2009, accessed on November 4, 2018 .