Stromateidae

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(Redirected from Butterfish)

iButterfishes

American butterfish, Peprilus triacanthus

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Perciformes
Family:	Stromateidae

Genera

Pampus
Peprilus
Stromateus
See text for species.

The family Stromateidae of butterfishes contains 17 species of fish in 3 genera. Butterfishes live in coastal waters off the Americas, western Afterica and in the Indo-Pacific.

[edit] Species

Genus Pampus
- Silver pomfret, Pampus argenteus (Euphrasen, 1788).
- Chinese silver pomfret, Pampus chinensis (Euphrasen, 1788).
- Pampus cinereus (Bloch, 1795).
- Pampus echinogaster (Basilewsky, 1855).
- Southern lesser pomfret, Pampus minor Liu & Li, 1998.
- Pampus punctatissimus (Temminck & Schlegel, 1845).
Genus Peprilus
- Harvestfish, Peprilus alepidotus (Linnaeus, 1766).
- Gulf butterfish, Peprilus burti Fowler, 1944.
- Pacific harvestfish, Peprilus medius (Peters, 1869).
- Shining butterfish, Peprilus ovatus Horn, 1970.
- American harvestfish, Peprilus paru (Linnaeus, 1758).
- Pacific pompano, Peprilus simillimus (Ayres, 1860).
- Salema butterfish, Peprilus snyderi Gilbert & Starks, 1904.
- American butterfish, Peprilus triacanthus (Peck, 1804).
Genus Stromateus
- Stromateus brasiliensis Fowler, 1906.
- Blue butterfish, Stromateus fiatola Linnaeus, 1758.
- Stromateus stellatus Cuvier, 1829.

[edit] Other butterfishes

Some medusafishes in the family Centrolophidae are known as butterfishes, for example the pelagic butterfish, Schedophilus maculatus.

In restaurants and in commercial fishing, several fish species, not closely related to the Stromateidae, are also called "butterfish", including the escolar, sablefish, rudderfish, and oilfish. Of these, escolar and oilfish contain approximately 20% (by weight) of indigestible wax ester. This wax ester causes an oily orange anal discharge and other short-lived gastrointestinal problems in some individuals.