Peprilus burti
Gulf Butterfish
NS
G5
Collection Details
Specimens
Photos
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Perciformes (Perciformes, Also Called the Acanthopteri)
Stromateidae (Butterfishes)
Peprilus
Peprilus burti (Gulf Butterfish)
Description
This species account was compiled from
Composite (multiple sources) (McEachran, J.D. and J.D. Fechhelm. Fishes of the Gulf of Mexico. University of Texas Press, Austin.)
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Characters
Relatively large eyes, two to four bladelike spines anterior to rays of dorsal and anal fins, and a row of 17 to 25 relatively large pores immediately below anterior half of dorsal fin. Dorsal and ventral profiles of body are strongly convex and similar, and snout is blunt. Anterior naris is round, and posterior naris is slitlike. Mouth is terminal, with upper jaw extending to anterior margin of eye. Branchiostegal rays number 6. Gill rakers on first arch number 21 to 26. Measurements are expressed as percent of SL: head length 26%–39%, snout length 5%–10%, eye length 7%–14%, upper jaw length 7%–13%, pectoral fin length 23%–39%, body depth 46%–64%. Pectoral fin inserts just below midline, is long and winglike, and has 19 to 23 rays. Dorsal fin is moderately falcate and has 38 to 48 rays. Pelvic fin is absent, but spinelike element on pelvic girdle projects through skin midventrally below pectoral fin base. Anal fin is similar in shape and size to dorsal fin and has 35 to 42 rays. Caudal peduncle is short, slender, and compressed. Caudal fin is deeply forked. Scales are small and very deciduous, and cover body and side of head. Lateral line scales number 90 to 100. Vertebrae number 29 to 31: 13 precaudal and 16 to 18 caudal.
Color is iridescent bluish or greenish silver, without dark spots on upper part of body. Gas bladder is apparently functional only in juveniles less than 80 to 100 mm SL.
Distribution
Western Atlantic from Virginia to Florida and the Gulf of Mexico. In the Gulf it is widespread along the continental shelf from Tampa Bay, FL, to Yucatán.
Habitat Associations
Continental shelf
Biology
Maximum known size is 200 mm TL, and maximum known age is about two and one-half years.
A pelagic fish forming large loose schools across the continental shelf over sand/mud bottoms; depth range from 2 to 275 m at least, but most abundant at 155 to 225 m; found near the bottom during the day and migrating into the water column at night. Juveniles often found under floating weeds and with jellyfish. Adults feed on jellyfish, small fish, crustaceans, and worms; the juveniles are plankton and jellyfish feeders. Mature within 1 year and rarely lives past 2; spawning takes place at discrete intervals twice a year slightly offshore. Highly esteemed for food, marketed fresh and frozen; caught mainly with otter trawls (Ref. 53006).
Reproductive mode: dioecism; fertilization: external; nonguarders (open water/substratum egg scatterers); parental care: none. Also Ref. 101194.
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2013-01-29. Resilience: High (tm=1; tmax=2; K>0.3).
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: commercial.
References
Fowler 1944
Caldwell 1961
Collette 1963
Haedrich 1967
Haedrich 2002e
Horn 1970
Haedrich and Horn 1972
Hoese and Moore 1977
Hoese and Moore 1998
Perschbacher et al. 1979
Castro-Aguirre and Márquez-Espinoza 1981
Robins and Ray 1986
Murphy and Chittenden 1991
Boschung 1992
Schaldach et al. 1997
Smith 1997
Castro-Aguirre et al. 1999
Breder, C.M. and D.E. Rosen (1966) Modes of reproduction in fishes. T.F.H. Publications, Neptune City, New Jersey. 941 p.
Robins, C.R. and G.C. Ray (1986) A field guide to Atlantic coast fishes of North America. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, U.S.A. 354 p.
Haedrich, R.L. (2003) Stromateidae. Butterfishes (harvestfishes). p. 1879-1884. In K.E. Carpenter (ed.) FAO species identification guide for fishery purposes. The living marine resources of the Western Central Atlantic. Vol. 3: Bony fishes part 2 (Opistognathidae to Molidae), sea turtles and marine mammals.
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