King Escolar
| King Escolar | ||||||||||||
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King's Escolar ( Rexea solandri ) |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Rexea solandri | ||||||||||||
| Cuvier , 1832 |
The King Escolar ( Rexea solandri ) is a species of fish from the family of the snake mackerel (Gempylidae).
Cuvier (in Cuvier et Valenciennes 1832) has described the species (as “ Thyrsites Solandri ”) on the basis of the information that Daniel Solander, when it discovered it (before New Zealand - on James Cook's first trip to the South Sea), of it in December 1769 (as “ Scomber macrophthalmus ") had given.
etymology
The scientific name seems to mean "that likes to tear, tear apart" (ρηξεῖα) - with Edgar R. Waite (1911) also having the (coincidental) echo of (Latin) rex , "king" in "Rexea " , may have had in mind: because of the silver sheen, the fish is called by many fishermen (translated) "king barracouta, -student, -kleinodfisch" u. Ä.
Systematics and appearance
Within the Gempylidae ( snake mackerel ) the genus Rexea (6 species) changes from the tuna-like to the eel-like forms. The large-eyed fish, up to 120 cm long, then weighing up to 16 kg (and around 15 years old), is elongated, torpedo-shaped, with the belly edge longer than the back line in profile. The back is dark bluish, the sides are silvery. The sideline is noticeable: it divides into two branches above the pectoral fin: the dorsal one runs straight up to almost the (short) caudal peduncle, the ventral one arches to the caudal fin.
Fin formula : D1 XVII – XVIII (very stretched, twice as long as D2; front with black spot); D2 I / 16–19 (to the rear transition in 2–3 Flössel); A II / 13-16, P 15-16, VI / 3 (remains completely behind in growth).
In the larvae the D1 is very high, as in the sailfish , and the V-hard ray is still long. The fish is only fully (finely) scaled at a length of 25 cm. He has 36 vertebrae in his spine. Its teeth are especially large at the front of the mouth, suitable for "mangling".
Occurrence
On the continental slopes of Australia, neighboring islands and probably also on those between East Africa and Japan, through the southern Ind , tropical to subtropical (the other species live in the same area, but remain smaller; assignment sometimes uncertain).
behavior
The King Escolar lives (in schools) mostly near the substrate (at 200–450 m), but also likes to climb into open water up to the surface, e.g. T. seasonal. It is a mesopelagic predator (at a depth of 100 - 800 m). The diet consists of fish, octopus and shrimp. It spawns pelagically (around New South Wales ) from May to September, probably in translucent depths and relatively close to the coast. The young fish that live in schools only become benthopelagic when they are around 17 cm long. As a result of low reproduction, the “king fish” is potentially endangered by overfishing.
Fishing
Since it is a popular food fish (especially smoked), since a sharp drop in catches after 1989 (on the southeastern and Tasmanian coasts), the Australian authorities have determined that there appear to be two South Australian populations and have limited catches of the endangered while the may be fished further southwest. The fact that there are several populations is shown not least by their different endoparasite findings. The content of wax esters (see Ruvettus and Lepidocybium ) in Rexea (practically only in the roe , as in many marine fish) is so low that it does not cause keriorrhea (diarrhea).
literature
- Izumi Nakamura, Nikolaj V. Parin: Snake mackerels and cutlassfishes of the world. An annotated and illustrated catalog of the Snake Mackerels, Snoeks, Escolars, Gemfishes, Sackfishes, Domine, Oilfish, Cutlassfishes, Scabbardfishes, Hairtails, and Frostfishes known to date (= FAO Species Catalog. Vol. 15 = FAO Fisheries Synopsis. No. 125 , Vol. 15). Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome 1993, ISBN 92-5-103124-X .
Web links
- King's Escolar on Fishbase.org (English)
Single receipts
- ^ André E. Punt, Anthony DM Smith: Harvest strategy evaluation for the eastern stock of gemfish (Rexea solandri). In: ICES Journal of Marine Science. Vol. 56, No. 6, 1999, ISSN 1054-3139 , pp. 860-875, doi : 10.1006 / jmsc.1999.0538 .
- ↑ Peter Vlieg, Denis R. Body: Lipid contents and fatty acid composition of some New Zealand freshwater finfish and marine finfish, shellfish, and roes. In: New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research. Vol. 22, No. 2, 1988, ISSN 0028-8330 , pp. 151-162, doi : 10.1080 / 00288330.1988.9516287 .