The blue butterfish (Stromateus fiatola), is a species of pelagic fish in the genus Stromateus.

Blue butterfish
Dead specimen collected by trawl net in Naples area
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Scombriformes
Family: Stromateidae
Genus: Stromateus
Species:
S. fiatola
Binomial name
Stromateus fiatola
Synonyms[2]
  • Chrysostromus fiatoloides Lacépède, 1802
  • Fiatola fasciata Risso, 1827
  • Seserinus microchirus Cuvier, 1833
  • Stromateus capensis Pappe, 1853
  • Stromateus fasciatus (Risso, 1827)
  • Stromateus microchirus (Cuvier, 1833)

Description

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The blue butterfish usually grows about 40 cm (16 in), but the largest length of the blue butterfish that has been recorded was 50 cm (20 in).[3] Dorsal soft rays (total): 42–50 cm; Anal soft rays: 33 – 38 cm. Blue to brownish in color and darker spots dorsally, silver to whitish ventrally; juveniles with vertical bars on body and small black pelvic fins.[4]

Distribution and habitat

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The blue butterfish is a pelagic fish, usually found in depths of 10–70 m (33–230 ft).[5] It mainly lives in the Atlantic Ocean and is widely distributed in the eastern Atlantic Ocean, specifically in the Bay of Biscay, the Mediterranean, southward of the cape of good hope, and South Africa.[4]  

Diet

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The blue butterfish feeds on smaller fishes, jellyfish,[6] and zooplankton. This fish is part of the trophic guild, planktotrophic, which means that they have a long pelagic larval stage and feed on their prey while suspended in the water column.[7] The blue butterfish is also referred to as a pelagic mesopredator due to feeding on smaller animals within the pelagic zone.[8]

Reproduction

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The blue butterfish undergoes sexual reproduction. The reproduction is both oviparous ( female animals that lay their eggs, with little or no other embryonic development within the mother) and iteroparous (an organism that can undergo many reproductive events within its lifetime).

Cultural

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Names of blue butterfish in other languages as follows: Bukla (Albanian), Ψευτολίτσα (Pseftolitsa) (Greek), Palometa fiatola (Spanish), Fieto (Italian), Blauer Butterfisch (German), Żuwak fiatola (Polish), Pampo-godinho (Portuguese), Фиатола (Fiatola) (Russian), Plotica morska (Serbian, Croatian), Figa (Slovenian), Yıldız balığı (Turkish), Fiatole (French).

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Smith-Vaniz, W.F. (2015). "Stromateus fiatola". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2015: e.T198715A42691924. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2015-4.RLTS.T198715A42691924.en. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  2. ^ Froese, R.; D. Pauly. "Stromateus fiatola Linnaeus, 1758". World Register of Marine Species. 2021.
  3. ^ Haedrich, R.L. "Stromateus fiatola". FishBase. 1986: 1192–1193.
  4. ^ a b "Stromateus fiatola, Blue butterfish : fisheries". www.fishbase.se. Retrieved 2022-04-19.
  5. ^ Blue butterfish (Stromateus fiatola). adriaticnature.com. Archived from the original on 2021-08-20. Retrieved 2021-08-20.
  6. ^ Macali, A.; Semenov, A.; Venuti, V.; Crupi, V.; D’Amico, F.; Rossi, B.; Corsi, I.; Bergami, E. (December 2018). "Episodic records of jellyfish ingestion of plastic items reveal a novel pathway for trophic transference of marine litter". Scientific Reports. 8 (1): 6105. Bibcode:2018NatSR...8.6105M. doi:10.1038/s41598-018-24427-7. ISSN 2045-2322. PMC 5904158. PMID 29666447.
  7. ^ "Blue butterfish - Encyclopedia of Life". eol.org. Retrieved 2022-04-19.
  8. ^ Cardona, Luis; Álvarez de Quevedo, Irene; Borrell, Assumpció; Aguilar, Alex (2012-03-21). Ropert-Coudert, Yan (ed.). "Massive Consumption of Gelatinous Plankton by Mediterranean Apex Predators". PLOS ONE. 7 (3): e31329. Bibcode:2012PLoSO...731329C. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0031329. ISSN 1932-6203. PMC 3310041. PMID 22470416.