Ruvettus pretiosus
Oilfish
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GNR
Collection Details
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Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Perciformes (Perciformes, Also Called the Acanthopteri)
Gempylidae (Snake Mackerels)
Ruvettus
Ruvettus pretiosus (Oilfish)
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
Elongate, elliptical in profile, and moderately compressed, with finlets behind second dorsal and anal fins, a midventral keel on ventral contour, and a rough body surface. Head is slightly convex from snout tip to dorsal fin origin. Anterior naris is located slightly closer to anterior margin of eye than to tip of snout, and posterior naris is elliptical and located slightly closer to anterior margin of eye than to anterior naris. Lower jaw distinctly projects beyond upper jaw. Maxilla is exposed when mouth is closed. Jaws of juveniles have fixed and depressible fanglike teeth anteriorly and a row of small, sharp-pointed teeth posteriorly, but adults possess only a row of small teeth along jaw margins. Vomer and palatine have a single series of small teeth. Operculum has 2 flat spines on posterior margin. Gill rakers on first arch are spinelike and have several cusps, with one in corner larger than others and T-shaped. Measurements are expressed as percent of SL: head length 27%–33%, snout length 9%–10%, eye diameter about 6%, upper jaw length 15%–17%, body depth 20%–24%. Pectoral fin is less than half of head length and has about 15 rays. First dorsal fin originates above angle of gill opening and has 13 to 15 low spines. Second dorsal fin is close to insertion of first dorsal fin, is slightly shorter than first, and has 15 to 18 rays. Two finlets are located behind second dorsal fin. Pelvic fin is well developed, inserts below pectoral fin base, and consists of 1 spine and 5 rays. Anal fin is similar to second dorsal fin in shape and size and has 15 to 17 rays. Two finlets are located behind anal fin. Lateral line is single and bends ventrally to about midflank at about fourth to sixth dorsal fin spine. Vertebrae number 32: 16 precaudal and 16 caudal. Body is entirely scaled, and scales are interspersed with spinous bony tubercles.
Color is brown to dark brown, with tips of pectoral and pelvic fins black. Margins of dorsal and anal fins are white in juveniles.
Distribution
In the western Atlantic it occurs from Newfoundland and Bermuda to northern Brazil, including the Gulf of Mexico.
Habitat Associations
Benthopelagic between 200 and 700 m. Occurs worldwide in tropical to warm temperate seas.
Biology
Food consists of squids, crustaceans, and ray-finned fishes.
Maximum known size is 300 cm SL, and size is common to 150 cm SL.
Usually over the continental shelf, sometimes in oceanic waters down to 800 m (Ref. 9302). Usually solitary or in pairs near the bottom (Ref. 6181). Migrates far offshore (Ref. 26139). Pelagic (Ref. 5951). Feeds on fish, crustaceans and squid (Ref. 6181). The peculiar wooden 'palu' or Ruvettus hook is used to catch this species in south central Pacific (Ref. 6181). The flesh is very oily, with purgative properties, if eaten much (Ref. 6181). Marketed fresh and as fish cakes in Japan (Ref. 9302); also processed into fishmeal (Ref. 5217). Maximum length reported to reach up to 2 m only (Heemstra, pers. comm. 03/03).
Reproductive mode: dioecism; fertilization: external; nonguarders (open water/substratum egg scatterers); parental care: none.
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2012-08-22. Resilience: Low (Assuming tm>4).
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: minor commercial; gamefish.
References
Bigelow and Schroeder 1953
Fujii 1983e
Robins and Ray 1986
Scott and Scott 1988
Boschung 1992
Nakamura and Parin 1993
Nakamura and Parin 2001b
Smith-Vaniz et al. 1999
Parin et al. 2002a
Scott, W.B. and M.G. Scott (1988) Atlantic fishes of Canada. Can. Bull. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 219:731 p.
Nakamura, I. and N.V. Parin (1993) FAO Species Catalogue. Vol. 15. Snake mackerels and cutlassfishes of the world (families Gempylidae and Trichiuridae). An annotated and illustrated catalogue of the snake mackerels, snoeks, escolars, gemfishes, sackfishes, domine, oilfish, cutlassfishes,. scabbardfishes, hairtails, and frostfishes known to date. FAO Fish. Synop. 125(15):136 p.
Nakamura, I. (1995) Gempylidae. Escolares. p. 1106-1113. In W. Fischer, F. Krupp, W. Schneider, C. Sommer, K.E. Carpenter and V. Niem (eds.) Guia FAO para Identification de Especies para lo Fines de la Pesca. Pacifico Centro-Oriental. 3 Vols. FAO, Rome.
Heemstra, P.C., K. Hissmann, H. Fricke and M.J. Smale (2006) Fishes of the deep demersal habitat at Ngazidja (Grand Comoro) Island, Western Indian Ocean. South African J. Sci. 102(9/10):444-460.
Patzner, R.A. (2008) Reproductive strategies of fish. pp. 311-350. In Rocha, M.J., A. Arukwe and B.G. Kapoor (eds). Fish reproduction: cytology, biology and ecology. Science Publisher, Inc. Oxford. 631 p.
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