American butterfish
Encyclopedia
The American butterfish, Peprilus triacanthus, is a butterfish of the family Stromateidae
Stromateidae
The family Stromateidae of butterfishes contains 17 species of fish in 3 genera. Butterfishes live in coastal waters off the Americas, western Africa and in the Indo-Pacific.-Species:* Genus Pampus...

. It is also known as a dollarfish, shiner
Shiner (fish)
Shiner is a common name used for any of several kinds of small, usually silvery fish, in particular a number of cyprinids, but also e.g. the Shiner Perch .Cyprinid shiners are:* Eastern shiners, genus Notropis...

, skipjack
Skipjack tuna
The skipjack tuna, Katsuwonus pelamis, is a medium-sized perciform fish in the tuna family, Scombridae. It is otherwise known as the aku, arctic bonito, mushmouth, oceanic bonito, striped tuna, or victor fish...

, sheepshead
Sheepshead (fish)
The sheepshead, Archosargus probatocephalus, is a marine fish that grows to 30 in , but commonly reaches 10 to 20 in. It is deep and compressed in body shape, with 5 to 6 dark bars on the side of the body over a gray background. It has sharp dorsal spines. Its diet consists of oysters, clams, and...

, or harvestfish
Harvestfish
The harvestfish , also occasionally known by a few local names as star butter fish or sometimes even simply as butterfish , is a marine, benthopelagic, circular-shaped and deep-bodied fish classified in the family Stromateidae of butterfishes...

.

Appearance

Fish of this species are usually deep-bodied, flattened sideways and somewhat circular or rounded, with blunt noses and small mouths with weak teeth. Some other characteristics of this fish are the absence of ventral fins, one long continuous dorsal fin
Dorsal fin
A dorsal fin is a fin located on the backs of various unrelated marine and freshwater vertebrates, including most fishes, marine mammals , and the ichthyosaurs...

, long pectoral fins, and tiny cycloid scales. The tail fin is nearly as long as the dorsal fin and deeply forked. The American Butterfish is similar in appearance to its close relative, the harvestfish
Harvestfish
The harvestfish , also occasionally known by a few local names as star butter fish or sometimes even simply as butterfish , is a marine, benthopelagic, circular-shaped and deep-bodied fish classified in the family Stromateidae of butterfishes...

 (Peprilus alepidotus), but can be distinguished by its much lower dorsal and tail fin.

This fish is a lead blue color above with pale sides and a silvery belly. It often has dark, irregular spots.

It is generally 6–9 in (15.2–22.9 cm), though some individuals reach 12 inches. They can weigh anywhere from 1.75–20 oz (49.6–567 g)if particularly fat.

Range

From gma.org:

Atlantic coast of North America from the offing of South Carolina and from coastal North Carolina waters to the outer coast of Nova Scotia and Cape Breton; northward as a stray to the Gulf of St. Lawrence and to the south and east coasts of Newfoundland; southward to Florida in deep water.

Habits

Relatively little is known about the American butterfish considering that it is an important food source and a common species. It travels in small bands or loosely organized school
School
A school is an institution designed for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is commonly compulsory. In these systems, students progress through a series of schools...

s, preferring sandy-bottomed areas to muddy ones, and often coming close to shore. During summer months, it does not swim deeper than ten to fifteen fathom
Fathom
A fathom is a unit of length in the imperial and the U.S. customary systems, used especially for measuring the depth of water.There are 2 yards in an imperial or U.S. fathom...

s (20 to 30 m), but in the winter and early spring it may be found 100 to 115 fathoms (200 to 230 m) below the surface.

It feeds on small fish
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...

, crustacean
Crustacean
Crustaceans form a very large group of arthropods, usually treated as a subphylum, which includes such familiar animals as crabs, lobsters, crayfish, shrimp, krill and barnacles. The 50,000 described species range in size from Stygotantulus stocki at , to the Japanese spider crab with a leg span...

s, and annelid
Annelid
The annelids , formally called Annelida , are a large phylum of segmented worms, with over 17,000 modern species including ragworms, earthworms and leeches...

s.

Breeding

The American butterfish spawns in the Gulf of Maine
Gulf of Maine
The Gulf of Maine is a large gulf of the Atlantic Ocean on the east coast of North America.It is delineated by Cape Cod at the eastern tip of Massachusetts in the southwest and Cape Sable at the southern tip of Nova Scotia in the northeast. It includes the entire coastlines of the U.S...

during the summer months, peaking in July. It appears to spawn a few miles out to sea and return to the coast when finished. Incubation lasts less than 48 hours in water at 65 degrees Fahrenheit (18 °C). Fry are two millimeters long at birth and by autumn, have grown to a length of three to four inches. The American butterfish appears to reach maturity at about two years of age.
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