Family : Gempylidae (Snake mackerels)
Order : Perciformes  (perch-likes)
Class : Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes)
Fishbase Name : Roudi escolar
Fish Name : Promethichthys prometheus
Max size : 100.0 cm SL (male/unsexed; Ref. 6181)
Environment : benthopelagic; oceanodromous ; depth range 80 - 800 m
Climate : subtropical; 50°N - 36°S
Global Importance : fisheries: subsistence fisheries; bait: usually
Resilience: Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (K=0.17-0.18; tm=4)Distribution : Tropical and warm temperate waters of all oceans, but absent from eastern Pacific except at Sala y Gomez Ridge.
Diagnosis : Dorsal spines (total): 18-20; Dorsal soft rays (total): 17-20; Anal spines: 2-3; Anal soft rays: 15-17. Body moderately elongate. Mouth with fang-like teeth. Spinescent gill rakers on the first arch with 1 - 3 cusps and many small spines; the angular raker long and triple-rooted. Body entirely scaled at over 20 - 25 cm SL. Pyloric caeca 7 or 8. Color is grayish to copper brown; fins blackish at over 40 cm SL, yellowish with black tips in smaller specimens (the first dorsal fin with a black blotch on two anteriormost membranes); the buccal and branchial cavities are black. Pelvic fin reduced to one spine that becomes entirely absent in specimens more than 40 cm SL.
Biology : Found at continental slopes, around oceanic islands and submarine rises (Ref. 6181). Meso-benthopelagic (Ref. 58302). Migrate to midwater at night (Ref. 6181). Feed on fish, cephalopods and crustaceans (Ref. 6181). Eggs and larvae are pelagic (Ref. 6766)
Threatened : Dangerous:  
Dangerous : reports of ciguatera poisoning , Dalzell, P.. 1991
Coordinator : Parin, Nikolay V.
Main Ref : Nakamura, I. and N.V. Parin. 1993. (Ref. 6181)

India country information
Common Names : [ No common name ]
Status : native
Salinity : marine
Uses : no uses