''Epigonus telescopus'', the black cardinal fish, is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...

deepwater cardinalfish Epigonidae, the deepwater cardinalfishes, are a family of perciform fishes. The family includes about 43 species. They are small fishes: the largest, ''Epigonus telescopus'', reaches in length, and most grow to no more than or so. They are f ...

found in most temperate oceans worldwide, at depths of between though mostly between . It can reach a length of TL though most specimens do not exceed TL. It has been reported that this species can reach an age of 104 years.

Description

The black cardinal fish is a shallow-bodied fish with large eyes and a blunt snout and slightly projecting lower jaw. The dorsal fin is in two parts and has seven or eight spines and nine to eleven soft rays. The anal fin has two spines and nine soft rays. The general colour of this fish is purplish-brown or black and living specimens are iridescent.

Distribution and habitat

The black cardinal fish is a deepwater bentho-pelagic fish that is found on

continental slope A continental margin is the outer edge of continental crust abutting oceanic crust under coastal waters. It is one of the three major zones of the ocean floor, the other two being deep-ocean basins and mid-ocean ridges. The continental marg ...

s, undersea ridges and

seamount A seamount is a large geologic landform that rises from the ocean floor that does not reach to the water's surface (sea level), and thus is not an island, islet or cliff-rock. Seamounts are typically formed from extinct volcanoes that rise a ...

s in the northern Atlantic, ranging from Iceland to the Canary Islands and the Corner Rise Seamounts. It is also found in the southeastern Atlantic, including the

Walvis Ridge The Walvis Ridge (''walvis'' means whale in Dutch and Afrikaans) is an aseismic ocean ridge in the southern Atlantic Ocean. More than in length, it extends from the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, near Tristan da Cunha and the Gough Islands, to the Africa ...

off southwestern Africa, the Indian Ocean and the southwestern Pacific Ocean.

Fisheries

The black cardinal fish is subject to

commercial fisheries Commercial fishing is the activity of catching fish and other seafood for commercial profit, mostly from wild fisheries. It provides a large quantity of food to many countries around the world, but those who practice it as an industry must oft ...

, primarily around

s. Based on the

FAO The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)french: link=no, Organisation des Nations unies pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture; it, Organizzazione delle Nazioni Unite per l'Alimentazione e l'Agricoltura is an intern ...

fishery statistics, the annual catches worldwide ranged between 1,355 and 4,353 tonnes in 2000 to 2009, most of the fish being taken from the Southwest Pacific (FAO Fishing Area 81). However, according to Watson ''et al.'', the catches peaked at 10,000 tonnes in the year 2000.

References

* Tony Ayling & Geoffrey Cox, ''Collins Guide to the Sea Fishes of New Zealand'', (William Collins Publishers Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand 1982) {{Taxonbar, from=Q517403 Epigonidae Fish described in 1810 Taxa named by Antoine Risso Fish of the Atlantic Ocean Fish of the Indian Ocean Fish of the Pacific Ocean