Trichiurus lepturus Linnaeus, 1758

Largehead hairtail

Catalog of Fishes (gen., sp.) | ITIS | CoL

Classification	Actinopterygii \| Perciformes \| Trichiuridae \| Trichiurinae
Synonyms	Clupea haumela, Trichiurus argenteus, Trichiurus coxii, ... more
Common names	... more

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Image of Trichiurus lepturus (Largehead hairtail)

Picture by Ueberschär, B.

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AquaMaps Data sources: GBIF OBIS

Main reference

Nakamura, I. and N.V. Parin. 1993. (Ref. 6181)
Other references | Biblio | Coordinator : Parin, Nikolay V. | Collaborators

Size / Weight / Age

Max length : 234 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 26340); common length : 100.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 26999); max. published weight: 5,000 g (Ref. ); max. reported age: 15 years (Ref. 7142)

Length at first maturity

L_m 44.00, range 28 - 99 cm

Environment

Benthopelagic; amphidromous (Ref. 51243); brackish; marine; depth range 0 - 589 m (Ref. 58018), usually 100 - 350 m (Ref. 35388)

Climate / Range

Subtropical; 49°N - 54°S, 114°W - 180°E (Ref. 54931)

Throughout tropical and temperate waters of the world. Trichiurus japonicus which was originally described from Japan as Trichiurus lepturus japonicus was synonymized with Trichiurus lepturus. Another nominal species synonymized with Trichiurus lepturus is Trichiurus nitens from the eastern Pacific Ocean (California to Peru).
Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Introductions

Short description

Dorsal spines (total): 3; Dorsal soft rays (total): 130 - 135; Anal soft rays: 100 - 105. Body extremely elongate, compressed and tapering to a point. Mouth large with a dermal process at the tip of each jaw. Dorsal fin relatively high; anal fin reduced to minute spinules usually embedded in the skin or slightly breaking through; anterior margin of pectoral fin spine not serrated. Pelvic and caudal fins absent. Lateral line beginning at the upper margin of the gill cover, running oblique to behind the tip of the pectoral fins, then straight close to the ventral contour. Fresh specimens steely blue with silvery reflections, becoming uniformly silvery gray sometime after death (Ref. 6181).

Generally over muddy bottoms of shallow coastal waters (Ref. 9351). Often enter estuaries (Ref. 9351). Juveniles feed mostly on euphausiids, small pelagic planktonic crustaceans and small fishes; adults feed mainly on fishes and occasionally on squids and crustaceans (Ref. 6181). Adults and juveniles have opposing complementary vertical diurnal feeding migration. Large adults usually feed near the surface during the daytime and migrate to the bottom at night. Juveniles and small adults form schools 100 m above the bottom during the daytime and form loose feeding aggregations at night near the surface. Pelagic eggs (Ref. 35388) and larvae (Ref. 6768). Max weight of 1.5 kg given in Ref. 28023 seems too low. The current angling world record was caught in Rio de Janeiro's Guanabara Bay and weighed 3.69 kg. Commercial fisherman have caught fish of up to 5 kg (Capt. Eduardo Baumeier, pers. Comm., 2001). Marketed salted or dried and also frozen (Ref. 9351). Excellent taste when fried or grilled; also for sashimi when fresh.


IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 57073)	Threat to humans
Not Evaluated	Harmless

Human uses
Fisheries: highly commercial; gamefish: yes


More information
Countries FAO areas Ecosystems Occurrences Introductions Ecology Diet Food items Food consumption Ration	Common names Synonyms Metabolism Predators Ecotoxicology Reproduction Maturity Spawning Eggs Egg development	Age/Size Growth Length-weight Length-length Length-frequencies Morphometrics Morphology Larvae Larval dynamics Recruitment	Other references Biblio Aquaculture Aquaculture profile Strains Genetics Allele frequencies Heritability Diseases Processing	Collaborators Pictures Stamps Sounds Ciguatera Speed Swim. type Gill area Otoliths Brains Vision

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Internet sources

Estimation of some characteristics with mathematical models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82805)

PD₅₀ = 0.5020

Resilience (Ref. 69278)

Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (K=0.25-0.29; tm=2; tmax=15)


Vulnerability (Ref. 59153)	Price category (Ref. 80766)
High vulnerability (57 of 100)	High

Entered by Luna, Susan M.

Modified by Ortañez, Auda Kareen

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