Author: Valenciennes, in Cuv. Val., 1833

Schedophilus ovalis Valenciennes, in Cuv. Val., 1833

Diagnosis. mouth large, no teeth on the roof of the mouth. Gillrakers on first arch usually 6 + 1 + 16. Single dorsal fin with 6-8 fairly strong spines graduating in length to the 30-32 rays which follow; its origin ahead of pectoral fin base. Musculature firm. Two predorsal bones. Colour: silvery to greenish. Size: to 80 cm SL.

Habitat: deep water at the edge of continental shelves and around oceanic islands; larger specimens near the bottom. Behaviour: young associate with floating jellyfish, including Physalia. Food: Pyrosoma and other tunicates. Adults are caught on hooks baited with fish or squid. A commercial species in many places valued for its good-tasting white meat; probably the biggest fishery is at Madeira. Reproduction: probably a spring spawner. Growth of young is rapid (one of 10 cm doubled its length in 2 months).

Distribution: eastern Atlantic from Spain southward and throughout most of the Mediterranean; also, around the Azores and Madeira. Elsewhere, the Canaries and southward to South Africa, there is a record of a small specimen from Bermuda.

Eggs, larvae and young stages. Padoa, 1937: pl. 37 (fig. 9) | Maul, 1964: 93, 97.
Otoliths (sagitta). No data.

Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Chordata
Subphylum Vertebrata
Superclass Gnathostomata
Class Osteichthyes
Order Perciformes
Suborder Stromateoidei
Family Centrolophidae
Genus Schedophilus
Species Schedophilus ovalis

Status in World Register of Marine Species

Accepted name: Schedophilus ovalis (Cuvier, 1833)

Scientific synonyms and common names

Schedophilus ovalis Valenciennes, in Cuv. Val., 1833

Synonyms:

Centrolophus ovalis Cuvier, 1833, in Cuv. Val., Hist. nat. Poiss., 9: 346-348 (Nice). Holotype: MNHN no. A 5324.
Centrolophus crassus Cuvier, 1833, in Cuv. Val., Hist. nat. Poiss., 9: 348-351 (west of the Azores). Holotype: MNHN no. 1795.
Leirus bennettii Lowe, 1834, Proc. zool. Soc. London, 1833, 1:143 (Madeira). Type material: 2 spec., BMNH no. 1860.7.17.2 & 1860.7.17.3.
Leirus bennettii: Lowe, 1836: 199, pl. 5 (fig. 1-2).
Crius berthelotii Valenciennes, 1839, Ichthyol. des Iles Canaries, 2: 45, pl. 9 [1839] (Canary Island). Holotype: MNHN no. A 9552.
Mupus imperialis Cocco, 1840, Maurolico, Messina, 4: 237 (Messina).
Centrolophus porosissimus Canestrini, 1865, Mem. R. Accad. Sci. Torino, (2) 2: 362, pl. 2
Centrolophus rotundicauda Costa, 1866, Ann. Mus. zool. Napoli, 6: 8487 (Naples).
Schedophilus botteri Steindachner, 1868a, Sitzungsber. Akad. Wiss. Wien, 57 (1): 379, pl. 4 (Barcelona).
Centrophorus ovalis: Steindachner, 1868b: 991.
Centrolophus ovalis: Moreau, 1881: 498.
Centrolophus crassus: Moreau, 1881: 499 Soljan, 1948: 338, fig. 383 Dor, 1959: 42.
Lirus bennetti: Collett, 1896: 27.
Centrolophus corcyrensis Kolombatovic, 1902, Glasnik Naravosl. Druzt., 13: 28 (Curzda, Dalmatia).
Eucrotus ventralis Bean, 1912, Proc. biol. Soc. Washington, 25: 123 (Bermuda).
Mupus ovalis: Fowler, 1936: 669, fig. 302 Tortonese & Trotti, 1949: 90.
Schedophilus ovalis: Barnard, 1948: 387, 392 Tortonese, 1959: 73, fig. 4 Haedrich, 1967: 60 Haedrich & Horn, 1969: 41.
Mupus imperialis: Lozano Rey, 1952: 661, pl. 51 (fig. 2).

Common names:

imperial blackfish [En]
rouffe impérial [Fr]
rufo imperial [Es]

Ancona, U. d'; Sanzo, L.; Sparta, A.; Bertolini, F.; Ranzi, S.; Montalenti, G.; Vialli, M.; Padoa, E.; Tortonese, E. 1931-1956. Uova, larve e stadi giovanili di Teleostei; monografia eborata con l'uso del materiale raccolto e seriato da Salvatore Lo Bianco. Fauna Flora Golfo Napoli, 38 monografia. 1, 1931: 1-177, fig. 1-166, pl. I-XI; 2, 1933: 178-384, fig. 167-263, pl. XII-XXX; 3 (1), 1937: 385-456, fig. 264286, pl. XXXI-XXXV; 3 (2),1956: 457-1064, fig. 287-831, pl. XXXVI-LI.

Barnard, K. H. 1948. Further notes on South African marine fishes. Ann. S. Afr. Mus., 36: pp. 341-406, 4 pl.

Bean, T. H. 1912. Description of new fishes of Bermuda. Proc. biol Soc. Wash., 25 :121-126.

Canestrini, G. 1865. Sopra alcuni pesci poco noti o nuovi del Mediterraneo nota. Memorie Accad. Sci. Torino, (2) 21: pp. 359-367, 2 pl.

Cocco, A. 1840. Su di alcuni nuovi pesci del mare di Messina. Maurolico giorn. di sc. Iett. art. del nuovo periodo, Messina, 4 (5): 236-244.

Collett, R. 1896b. Poissons provenant des campagnes du yacht l"Hirondelle' (1885-1888). Résult. Camp. scient. Prince Albert 1, 10: viii +198 p., pl. I-VI.

Costa, O. G. 1866. Illustrazione di un Centrolofo pescato nel Golfo di Napoli. Ann. Mus. zool. Napoli, 6: pp. 84-87.

Cuvier, G.; Valenciennes, A. 1828-1849. Histoire naturelle des Poissons, Paris-Strasbourg, 22 vol., 11030 pp., 621 pl. (numb. 1-650).1,1828: xvi+573 pp., pl. I-VIII [author: Cuvier]; 2, 1828: xxi+490 pp., pl. 9-40 [Cuv.: pp. 1-238, pp. 249-262, pp. 387-490; Val.: pp. 238-249, pp. 262-386]; 3 April 1829: xxiii+500 pp., pl. 41-71 [Cuvier]; 4, 1829: xxvi+518 pp., pl. 72-99 [Cuvier]; 5, 1830: xxviii+499 pp., pl. 100-140 [Cuvier]; 6, 1830: xxiv+pp.559 pp., pl. 141-169 [Val.: pp. 1-425, 493-559; Cuv.: 426-491]; 7, 1831: xxix + 531 pp., pl. 170-208 [Cuv.: 1-440; Val.: pp. 441-531]; 8, 1832: xix+509 pp., pl. 209-245 [Cuv.: pp. 1-470; Val.: pp. 471-509]; 9, 1833: xxix+512 pp., pl. 246-279 [Cuv.: pp. 1-198, pp. 330-359, pp. 372-427; Val.: pp. 199-329, pp. 359-371, pp. 429-512]; 10, 1835: xxiv+482 pp., pl. 280-306 [Val.]; 11, 1836: xx+506 pp., pl. 307-343 [Val.]; 12, 1837: xxix+507 pp., pl. 344-368 [Val.]; 13, 1839: xix+505 pp., pl. 369-388 [Val.]; 14, 1840: xxii+464 pp., pl. 389-420 [Val.]; 15, 1840: xxi + 540 pp., pl. 421-455 [Val.]; 16, 1842: xx+472 pp., pl. 456-487 [Val.]; 17, 1844: xxiii+497 pp., pl. 487-519 [Val.]; 18, 1846: xix+505 pp., pl. 520-553 [Val.]; 19, 1847: xix+544 pp., pl. 554-590 [Val.]; 20, 1847: xviii+472 pp., pl. 591-606 [Val.]; 21, 1848: xiv+536 pp., pl. 607-633 [Val.]; 22, 1849: xx+532 pp., pl. 634-650 [Val.].

Dor, M. 1959. Nine new fish from the Mediterranean coast of Israel. Bull Res. Coun. Israel, (B) 8: 42.

Fowler, H. W. 1936. The Marine Fishes of West Africa, based on the collection of the American Museum Congo Expedition 1909-1915. Bull. am. Mus. nat. Hist., 70 (1), Jan. 21, 1936: pp. vii+1-606, fig. 1-275; (2), Nov. 18, 1936: pp. 607-1493, fig. 276-567.

Haedrich, R. L. 1967. The stromateoid fishes; systematics and a dassification. Bull. Mus. comp. Zool. Harv., 135 (2): pp. 31-139.

Haedrich, R. L.; Horn, M. H. 1969. A key to the stromateoid fishes. Technical Report. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Ref. No. 69-70, Sept. 1969, 46 p. (Unpublished manuscript). (Second ed., 1972, Ref. no. 72-15.)

Kolombatovic, J. 1902. Contribuzioni alla fauna dei Vertebrati della Dalmatia. Glas. Narav. Drust., 13: 22-37, pl.

Lowe, R. T. 1834. Characters of a new genus Leirus and of several species of fishes from Madeira. Proc. zool. Soc. Lond., 1833 [1834], 1: 142-144.

Lowe, R. T. 1836. Piscium Maderensium species quaedam novae, vel minus rite cognitae, breviter descriptae. Trans. Camb. phil. Soc., 6 (1): 195-201, 5 col. pl.

Lozano y Rey, L. 1952. Peces fisoclistos, Subserie Toracicos. Mems R. Acad. Cienc. exact. fis. nat. Madr., ser.: Cien. nat., Primate parte, 14: pp. xv+1-378, fig. 1-20, pl. I-XXX; Segunda parte, 14: pp. 379-705, fig. 21-31, pl. XXI-LI.

Maul, G. E. 1964. Observations on young live Mupus maculatus (Gnther) and Mupus ovalis (Valenciennes). Copeia, 1: pp. 93-97.

Moreau, E. 1881-1891. Histoire naturelle des poissons de la France, Paris, I, 1881: pp. I-VII+1-480, fig. 1-82; II, 1881: pp. 1-572, fig. 83-145; III, 1881: pp. 1-697, fig. 146-220; Suppl., 1891: pp. 1-144, fig. 221-227.

Soljan, T. 1963. Fishes of the Adriatic (Ribe Jadrana). Fauna et flora adriatica 1 (revised and enlarged for the English edition), 428 pp., many unnumbered fig.

Steindachner, F. 1868a. Ichthyologischer Bericht über eine nach Spanien und Portugal untermommene Reise. Übersicht der Meeresfische an den Kusten Spanien's und Portugal's. Sber. Akad. Wiss. Wien., 57 (1): 351-424, 667-738, 6 pl.

Steindachner, F. 1868b. Ichthyologische Notizen. VII. Sber. Akad. Wiss. Wien, 57 (1): 965-1008,

Tortonese, E. 1959. Revisione dei Centrolophidae (Pisces Perciformes) del Mare Ligure (1). Annali Mus. civ. Stor. nat. Giacomo Doria, 71: pp. 57-82.

Tortonese, E.; Trotti, L. 1950. Catalogo dei pesci del Mare Ligure. Centro Talassografico Tirreno, Pubbl. no. 1, 118 pp. (Estr. dagli Atti Accad Ligure, 6 (1)).

Valenciennes, A. 1837-1844. Ichthyologie des îles Canaries, ou histoire naturelle des poissons rapportés par MM. Webb et Berthelot. In: P. B. Webb et S. Berthelot, Histoire naturelle des Iles Canaries. Paris, 2 (2): 1-109, 26pl. [Plates: 1837: pl.1, 3-4, 8, 11-12; 1838: pl. 7, 10, 13, 14, 17; 1839: pl. 5, 9, 15-16, 18; 1840: pl. 2; 1841: pl. 6- 1842: pl. 19; 1843: pl. 20-23; 1844: pl. 24-26. Text: 1842 : 1-8; 1843: 9-96; 1844: 97-109].

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