You can sponsor this page

Gasterochisma melampus Richardson, 1845

Butterfly kingfish
Add your observation in Fish Watcher
Native range | All suitable habitat | Point map | Year 2050
This map was computer-generated and has not yet been reviewed.
Gasterochisma melampus   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
Upload your photos and videos
Pictures | Google image
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
Food rations
Predators
Ecology
Ecology
Population dynamics
Growths
Max. ages / sizes
Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
Length-frequencies
Mass conversions
Recruitments
Abundances
Life cycle
Reproduction
Maturities
Fecundities
Spawnings
Spawning aggregations
Egg(s)
Egg developments
Larvae
Larval dynamics
Distribution
Countries
FAO areas
Ecosystems
Occurrences
Introductions
BRUVS - Videos
Anatomy
Gill areas
Brains
Otoliths
Physiology
Body compositions
Nutrients
Oxygen consumptions
Swimming type
Swimming speeds
Visual pigment(s)
Fish sounds
Diseases / Parasites
Toxicities (LC50s)
Genetics
Genetics
Electrophoreses
Heritabilities
Human related
Aquaculture systems
Aquaculture profiles
Strains
Ciguatera cases
Stamps, coins, misc.
Outreach
Collaborators
Taxonomy
Common names
Synonyms
Morphology
Morphometrics
Pictures
References
References

Tools

Special reports

Download XML

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.