Hyperoglyphe perciformis (Mitchill, 1818)
Barrelfish
photo by Gardner, T.

Family:  Centrolophidae (Medusafishes)
Max. size:  91 cm TL (male/unsexed); max.weight: 12 kg
Environment:  pelagic-oceanic; marine
Distribution:  Western Atlantic: Nova Scotia in Canada to southern Florida in USA and eastern Gulf of Mexico (Ref. 7251). Eastern Atlantic: juveniles occasionally accompany floating objects across the Atlantic and have been recorded from Ireland, around the British Isles, off Portugal and the western Mediterranean.
Diagnosis:   
Biology:  Lives in deep water over continental slopes. Adults in submarine canyons, young more widely found in surface layers and may occur at times close inshore docks. Young to 30 cm common in large groups during summer and autumn under floating boards, boxes and barrels. Does not associate with medusae. Adults probably schooling in depths but not on the bottom. Feed on small fishes and crustaceans; also sqiud and molluscs (Ref. 5951). Probably a spring spawner. (see Ref 4542).
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC); Date assessed: 04 February 2009 Ref. (130435)
Threat to humans:  harmless


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