Alfonsino
Encyclopedia
The alfonsino or alfonsin, Beryx decadactylus, is a deepwater fish
of the family
Berycidae
that inhabits temperate and tropical ocean waters nearly worldwide, with the exception of the eastern Pacific
. More generally, the name is also used to denote any member of the family Berycidae.
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Alfonsinos have large eyes and deep, compressed bodies. They have a rose red color, and orange below, with all fins and the inside of the mouth bright red. This is a common adaptation to deepwater surroundings, where red is filtered out of the light spectrum. They have a maximum length of 60 cm.
This and several other species of the genus Beryx, like the splendid alfonsino
are commercially harvested throughout the world, often distributed under the names of imperador, red bream, and Tasmanian snapper.
Fish
Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...
of the family
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
Berycidae
Berycidae
The Berycidae is a small family of deep sea fishes, related to the squirrelfishes. The family includes the alfonsinos and the nannygais.Berycids are found in both temperate and tropical waters around the world, between in depth, though mainly greater than . They are typically red in colour, and...
that inhabits temperate and tropical ocean waters nearly worldwide, with the exception of the eastern Pacific
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
. More generally, the name is also used to denote any member of the family Berycidae.
This and several other species of the genus Beryx, like the splendid alfonsino
Splendid alfonsino
The splendid alfonsino, Beryx splendens, is an alfonsino of the genus Beryx, found around the world at depths of between 25 and 1,300 m...
are commercially harvested throughout the world, often distributed under the names of imperador, red bream, and Tasmanian snapper.
External links
- Alfonsino at the Australian Museum