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Gasterochisma melampus Richardson, 1845

Butterfly kingfish
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Gasterochisma melampus   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Gasterochisma melampus (Butterfly kingfish)
Gasterochisma melampus
Picture by Archambault, C.

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Scombriformes (Mackerels) > Scombridae (Mackerels, tunas, bonitos) > Gasterochismatinae
Etymology: Gasterochisma: Greek, gaster = stomach + Greek, chiasma = marked with the sign of "X" (Ref. 45335).
More on author: Richardson.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; pelagic-oceanic; oceanodromous (Ref. 51243); depth range 200 - ? m (Ref. 9563). Subtropical; 8°C - 15°C (Ref. 168); 19°S - 55°S, 180°W - 180°E (Ref. 168)

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Circumglobal in southern temperate waters.

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 164 cm FL male/unsexed; (Ref. 168)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 17 - 18; Dorsal soft rays (total): 9 - 12; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 11 - 13; Vertebrae: 44. Pelvic fins enormous in juveniles, longer than head length. Pelvic fins fitting into a deep ventral groove at all sizes. Interpelvic process tiny and bifid. No anterior corselet. Swim bladder present with two anterior projections that extend into the back of the skull. The morphological adaptations required for maintaining high brain and retinal temperatures are discussed in Ref. 11221.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Occurs in deep oceanic waters (Ref. 9563), most abundant in waters of 8° to 10°C. Stomach contents of the specimen from north of the Hawaiian Archipelago include onychoteuthids, ommastrephid squid, vertebrae and fin rays from an unidentified fish, bird feathers and parasitic nematodes (Ref. 11006). Taken as longline by-catch by Japanese fishing for Thunnus maccoyii.

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturities | Reproduction | Spawnings | Egg(s) | Fecundities | Larvae

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator : Collette, Bruce B. | Collaborators

Collette, B.B. and C.E. Nauen, 1983. FAO Species Catalogue. Vol. 2. Scombrids of the world. An annotated and illustrated catalogue of tunas, mackerels, bonitos and related species known to date. Rome: FAO. FAO Fish. Synop. 125(2):137 p. (Ref. 168)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 01 March 2022

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Fisheries: minor commercial; gamefish: yes
FAO - Publication: search | FIRMS - Stock assessments | FishSource | Sea Around Us

More information

Trophic ecology
Food items
Diet compositions
Food consumptions
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Predators
Ecology
Ecology
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Growths
Max. ages / sizes
Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
Length-frequencies
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Recruitments
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Life cycle
Reproduction
Maturities
Fecundities
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Egg(s)
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Distribution
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Anatomy
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Brains
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Physiology
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Swimming type
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Visual pigment(s)
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Toxicities (LC50s)
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Genetics
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Taxonomy
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References

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Summary page | Point data | Common names | Photos

Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GenBank: genome, nucleotide | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | National databases | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoobank | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 123201): 10.2 - 15.9, mean 11.7 °C (based on 22 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 1.0000   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.01122 (0.00514 - 0.02450), b=3.04 (2.87 - 3.21), in cm total length, based on all LWR estimates for this body shape (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  4.4   ±0.57 se; based on food items.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Very high vulnerability (90 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Very high.
Nutrients (Ref. 124155):  Calcium = 28.4 [15.9, 50.2] mg/100g; Iron = 1.3 [0.8, 2.2] mg/100g; Protein = 22.7 [20.5, 24.6] %; Omega3 = 0.397 [0.256, 0.622] g/100g; Selenium = 35.7 [20.8, 64.7] μg/100g; VitaminA = 11.5 [4.4, 31.5] μg/100g; Zinc = 0.443 [0.319, 0.627] mg/100g (wet weight); based on nutrient studies.