Superregnum: Eukaryota
Cladus: Unikonta
Cladus: Opisthokonta
Cladus: Holozoa
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Superphylum: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Megaclassis: Osteichthyes
Superclassis/Classis: Actinopterygii
Classis/Subclassis: Actinopteri
Subclassis/Infraclassis: Neopterygii
Infraclassis: Teleostei
Megacohors: Osteoglossocephalai
Supercohors: Clupeocephala
Cohors: Euteleosteomorpha
Subcohors: Neoteleostei
Infracohors: Eurypterygia
Sectio: Ctenosquamata
Subsectio: Acanthomorphata
Divisio/Superordo: Acanthopterygii
Subdivisio: Percomorphaceae
Series: Pelagiaria
Ordo: Scombriformes
Familia: Scombridae
Subfamilia: Gasterochismatinae
Genus: Gasterochisma
Species: Gasterochisma melampus
Name
Gasterochisma melampus Richardson, 1845
Synonyms
Chenogaster holmbergi Lahille, 1903
Gastrochisma boulengeri Lahille, 1913 (misspelling)
Lepidothynnus huttoni Günther, 1889
References
Primary references
Richardson, J. 1845. Generic characters of Gasteroschisma melampus, a fish which inhabits Port Nicholson, New Zealand. Annals and Magazine of Natural History, Including Zoology, Botany and Geology 15: 346. BHL Reference page.
Links
Global Biodiversity Information Facility. 2019. GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset. Taxon: Gasterochisma melampus.
Gasterochisma melampus in the World Register of Marine Species
The butterfly kingfish (Gasterochisma melampus) is an ocean-dwelling ray-finned bony fish in the mackerel family, Scombridae – a family which it shares with the tunas, mackerels, Spanish mackerels, and bonitos. It, however, represents a lineage distinct from all other scombrids and has therefore been placed in its own genus Gasterochisma and subfamily Gasterochismatinae.[2][3][4][5]
Although taxonomists and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations have accepted the name "butterfly kingfish", this fish has had many common names, including big-scaled mackerel, bigscale mackerel, butterfly mackerel, butterfly tuna, scaled tunny, scaly tuna, and others. In 1993, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration gave approval for this fish to be marketed simply as "mackerel".[6]
Description
The juveniles of the butterfly kingfish are characterized by enormous pelvic fins that are longer than the length of its head, and that become more proportional as the fish grows. At any size, the pelvic fin tucks into a deep ventral groove, in much the same way as the first dorsal spines do in all scombrids. This species has very large cycloid scales, below which is a thick layer of fat. The swim bladder has two anterior projections that extend into the back of the skull, near the inner ear.[7] This fish lacks the median keel on the caudal peduncle – it only has the characteristic pair of small keels on each side of the base of the caudal fin, as do other scombrids. It has 21 precaudal vertebrae, plus 23 caudal vertebrae.[5]
Drawing of a butterfly kingfish
This fish can be found around the world in southern temperate waters of 8–15 °C (46–59 °F), but most commonly under 10 °C (50 °F), and at depths to 200 m (660 ft) in the open ocean. It grows to a length of 1.64 m (5.4 ft).[8]
Most bony fishes are ectothermic, or cold-blooded, but this species, much like the related tunas, is endothermic and is able to raise its body temperature to achieve a degree of thermoregulation.[9] It has a brain heater organ derived from the lateral rectus eye muscle, which is distinct from that of the billfishes, whose heater is derived from their superior rectus muscles.[5]
Etymology
Gasterochisma derives from the Ancient Greek: γαστήρ, romanized: (gaster), lit. 'stomach', and χίασμα (chiasma) "crossing; X-shaped; sign of the 'X'".[8]
Taxonomy
The evolutionary lineage of the butterfly kingfish is more primitive and quite different from that of the rest of the scombrids. Additionally, the morphology of this species is substantially different from that of the others – some suggest that it might belong in a different family altogether.[7] At present, however, morphology and nuclear phylogeny provide support that Gasterochisma is sister to all other scombrids, and that both its genus, Gasterochisma, and its subfamily, Gasterochismatinae, remain as monotypic taxa under the family Scombridae.[5]
The following cladogram shows the most likely evolutionary relationships between the butterfly kingfish and the tunas, mackerels, Spanish mackerels, and bonitos.
Butterfly kingfish, in the family Scombridae
| family Scombridae |
|
Cladogram: With 51 different species in the Scombridae, the butterfly kingfish sits apart from the rest – it is the only scombrid species that does not belong to the subfamily Scombrinae.[4][5]
Distribution
The butterfly kingfish has a circumglobal distribution in southern temperate waters.[1][8]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gasterochisma melampus.
References
Collette, B.B.; Di Natale, A.; Pollard, D.A.; Nakatsuka, S.; Suzuki, J. (2023). "Gasterochisma melampus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2023: e.T170340A46940110. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2023-1.RLTS.T170340A46940110.en. Retrieved 27 July 2024.
Bailly N, ed. (2024). "Gasterochismatinae Poey, 1869". FishBase. World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved 27 July 2024.
"Gasterochismatinae Lahille, 1903". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 27 July 2024.
Graham, Jeffrey B.; Dickson, Kathryn A. (2004). "Tuna Comparative Physiology". The Journal of Experimental Biology. 207 (23): 4015–4024. doi:10.1242/jeb.01267. PMID 15498947.
Orrell, T.M.; Collette, B.B.; Johnson, G.D. (2006). "Molecular data support separate scombroid and xiphioid clades". Bulletin of Marine Science. 79 (3): 505–519.
Randolph, S.; Snyder, M. The seafood list: FDA's guide to acceptable market names for seafood sold in interstate commerce. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office.
Collette, Bruce B.; Reeb, Carol; Block, Barbara A. (2001). "Chapter 1: Systematics of the Tunas and Mackerels (scombridae)". In Block, Barbara A.; Stevens, E. Donald (eds.). Tuna: physiology, ecology, and evolution; Volume 19 of Fish Physiology. San Diego, Calif.: Academic Press. p. 5. ISBN 9780123504432.
Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Gasterochisma melampus". FishBase. February 2024 version.
Block, B.A.; Finnerty, J.R. (1993). "Endothermy in fishes: a phylogenetic analysis of constraints, predispositions, and selection pressures". Environmental Biology of Fishes. 40 (3): 283–302. doi:10.1007/BF00002518. S2CID 28644501.
Tony Ayling & Geoffrey Cox, Collins Guide to the Sea Fishes of New Zealand, (William Collins Publishers Ltd., Auckland, New Zealand 1982) ISBN 0-00-216987-8
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