Hoplostethus Atlanticus
Colour, Shape and Size
Bright brick-red in color, mouth and gill cavity bluish black. Maximum size 75.0 cm. Max.imum published weight: 7,000 g.
Maximum reported age: 149 years.
External Anatomy
Dorsal spines (total): 4-6; Dorsal soft rays (total): 15-19; Anal spines: 3-3; Anal soft rays: 10-12. Bright brick-red in color, mouth and gill cavity bluish black. Ventral scutes: 19-25.
Natural History
Inhabits deep, cold waters over steep continental slopes, ocean ridges and sea-mounts. Appears to be dispersed over both rough bottoms and steep, rough grounds where it feeds on crustaceans and fish.Orange Roughy have known to be found as deep as 180 – 1809m. Juveniles feed mainly on crustaceans. Grows very slowly and is one of the longest lived fish species known. Based on parasite and trace-element analyses, orange roughy is a sedentary species with little movement between fish-management zone.
Little is known of the larvae and juveniles which are probably confined to deep water. The fishery targets sporadically formed dense spawning and
non-spawning aggregations.
Capture
Commercial catches are subject to quota
