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Banded Whiptail Coelorinchus fasciatus (Günther, 1878)
[CAAB 37 232002]

Distribution Map see an interactive map here (new window)

Distribution, ecology and habitat:

Circumglobal in temperate waters of Southern Hemisphere, off southern Africa, the southern tip of South America, New Zealand and southern Australia; bathydemersal on continental shelf and slope at 73-1086 m, most abundant in 400-800 m in Australian waters, rare off southern coast.

Size:

To 35 cm TL.

Food and feeding:

Carnivorous on small fishes (myctophids and the sternoptychid, Maurolicus), crustaceans, polychaete worms, gastropod and bivalve molluscs and echinoderms.

Reproduction and early life history:

Spawn from July to September off South Africa.

Characteristics:

D II, 9-10; P 14-18; V 7; GR 8-9; PC 12-23 (mean 16.6).
Head large, eye large, longer than snout and postorbital length; snout short, broad, bluntly pointed in dorsal view, tipped with small blunt tubercle, fully scaled behind leading edge, anterolateral margins incompletely supported by bone; jaw teeth small, in bands. Body scales large, deciduous, with up to 15 weakly divergent rows of small spinules, predorsal scales thickened, forming low crest or ridge on dorsal midline, 3rd or 4th scale before dorsal-fin origin often prominent; dorsal surface of snout without clear scalelss areas, underside of head naked, nasal fossa scaled ventrally. Second spine of first dorsal fin smooth, pectoral-fin base below first dorsal fin, pelvic-fin base behind first dorsal fin, outer ray of pelvic fin slightly elongate. Naked fossa of light organ relatively small, narrow, extending from anus midway to pelvic fin bases.

Colour:

Overall grey to brownish, pale ventrally; 8-12 dark saddle marks from nape to end of tail, alternate saddles paler; orbit encircled with black, mouth, gill cavity dark, lips and barbel pale; first dorsal and anal fins black, sometimes paler at base.

Similar species:

Fisheries:

Of minor commercial importance and taken as bycatch in commercial trawls throughout range; an important food item of the ling, Genypterus blacodes in New Zealand waters. Although seldom eaten in Australian waters, the flesh is reported to be tasty.

Conservation Status:

Remarks:

Other common names:

Striped Whiptail.

Original citation:

Macrurus fasciatus Günther, 1878, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (5)2(2):  24, East coast of southern South America [erroneously as west coast, Iwamoto, 1978].

Etymology:

References:

Iwamoto, T. 1978. Eastern Pacific macrourids of the genus Coelorinchus Giorna (Pisces: Gadiformes), with description of a new species from Chile. Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci. 41(12): 307-337, figs. 1-20.

Iwamoto, T. 1990. Family Macrouridae, pp. 90-318 In Cohen, D. M., T. Inada, T. Iwamoto & N. Scialabba (eds.) FAO Species Catalogue. Gadiform fishes of the world (order Gadiformes). An annotated and illustrated catalogue of cods, hakes, grenadiers and other gadiforms fishes known to date. FAO Fisheries Synopsis No. 125, Rome: FAO Vol. 10, 442 pp.

Iwamoto, T. & Graham, K.J. 2001. Grenadiers (Families Bathygadidae and Macrouridae, Gadiformes, Pisces) of New South Wales, Australia. Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci. 52(21): 407-509, figs. 1-114.

Last, P.R., Scott, E.O.G. & Talbot, F.H. 1983. Fishes of Tasmania. Fisheries Development Authority, Hobart, 563 pp.