Portugal country information

Common names: Alfonsim, Alfonsim-da-costa-larga, Alfonsino
Occurrence: native
Salinity: marine
Abundance: | Ref:
Importance: | Ref:
Aquaculture: | Ref:
Regulations: | Ref:
Uses: no uses
Comments:
National Checklist: Portugal
Country Information: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/geos/po.html
National Fisheries Authority:
Occurrences: Occurrences Point map
Main Ref: Maul, G.E., 1986
National Database: Portuguese Freshwater Fishes

Common names from other countries

Béryx commun, Alfonsino palometón, Broad alfonsin, ... more

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

Teleostei (teleosts) > Beryciformes (Sawbellies) > Berycidae (Alfonsinos)
Etymology: Beryx: Greek, beryx or berys = a name of a fish. Cuvier & Valenciennes (1829:221) precise that the name was used by Gesner from Varinus, but with no indication whatsoever helping identifying any species. After D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson (A glossary of Greek fishes, 1947), the name actually seems to come originally from Hesychius, but perhaps the name was not originally a fish name. Thompson compares it to meryx (ruminant), applied on skaros (Scarus), so it may have been applied on a parrot fish referring to its browsing/grazing behavior described by Aristoteles and followers..
More on author: Cuvier.

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

Marine; bathydemersal; depth range 110 - 1300 m (Ref. 126224), usually 200 - 800 m (Ref. 126224). Deep-water; 70°N - 48°S, 180°W - 180°E

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

Worldwide in temperate and tropical latitudes, except the eastern Pacific. Eastern Atlantic: Greenland, Iceland, and Norway to Western Sahara and South Africa, including western Mediterranean. Western Atlantic: south to Brazil. Also found in Argentine (Ref. 2806). Indo-Pacific: East Africa (including the Madascar Ridge and Saya de Malha Bank, Ref. 33390) to Japan, Australia, and New Zealand (Ref. 5755). The limited number of records in the western Pacific is doubtless the result of limited fishing effort below 200 m (Ref. 9833).

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: L_m 27.6 range ? - ? cm
Max length : 100.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 26340); common length : 35.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 9833); max. published weight: 4.0 kg (Ref. 126224); max. reported age: 69 years (Ref. 86253)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 4; Dorsal soft rays (total): 18 - 20; Anal spines: 4; Anal soft rays: 25 - 30. Body deep, compressed and has a large eye. Top of head, iris, back and all fins bright blood red. Orbital bones, cheeks and opercular bones shiny white. Breast shiny yellowish white. Body silvery with thin lengthwise lines (Ref. 37108).

Found in ca. 500 m on mud or sandy mud bottom (Ref. 11230). Occurs on the continental slope; adults demersal, young pelagic (Ref. 9563). Feeds on crustaceans, small fishes and cephalopods (Ref. 3321). A 35 cm SL specimen was found in the stomach of Latimeria (Ref. 58472). Young have heavy spines on the head (Ref. 35388).

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

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Maul, G.E., 1990. Berycidae. p. 626. In J.C. Quero, J.C. Hureau, C. Karrer, A. Post and L. Saldanha (eds.) Check-list of the fishes of the eastern tropical Atlantic (CLOFETA). JNICT, Lisbon; SEI, Paris; and UNESCO, Paris. Vol. 2. (Ref. 7413)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 29 January 2013

CITES (Ref. 128078)

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

Harmless

Human uses

Fisheries: commercial

FAO(Fisheries: production; publication : search) | FishSource | Sea Around Us

More information

Trophic ecology
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Ecology
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Life cycle
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Distribution
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BRUVS - Videos

Anatomy
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Physiology
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Swimming type
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Visual pigment(s)
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Toxicities (LC50s)

Genetics
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Human related
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Stamps, coins, misc.

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Check for Aquarium maintenance | Check for Species Fact Sheets | Check for Aquaculture Fact Sheets

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Summary page | Point data | Common names | Photos

Internet sources

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 115969): 4.5 - 18.3, mean 11.2 (based on 1031 cells).

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804): PD₅₀ = 0.6260 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].

Bayesian length-weight: a=0.01445 (0.00904 - 0.02311), b=3.05 (2.91 - 3.19), in cm Total Length, based on LWR estimates for this species & (Sub)family-body (Ref. 93245).

Trophic level (Ref. 69278): 4.1 ±0.76 se; based on food items.

Resilience (Ref. 120179): Low, minimum population doubling time 4.5 - 14 years (K = 0.11-0.16; tmax >11).

Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153): High to very high vulnerability (69 of 100).

Climate Vulnerability (Ref. 125649): High vulnerability (62 of 100).

Price category (Ref. 80766): Medium.

Beryx decadactylus Cuvier, 1829