For the Baikal Oilfish, see Comephorus. For fish that contain oils, see Oily fish.
Oilfish (Ruvettus pretiosus) are a species of snake mackerel with a cosmopolitan distribution in tropical and temperate oceans. They can be found at depths from 100 to 800 metres (330 to 2,620 ft), but most often between 200 and 400 metres (660 and 1,310 ft). Oilfish can grow to a length of 3 metres (9.8 ft), though most do not exceed 1.5 metres (4.9 ft). It is the only known member of its genus.[2][3]
Oilfish are large, fusiform fish which often grow to 1.5 metres (4.9 ft) and a maximum of 3 metres (9.8 ft).[2] Other distinctive features of this fish include the large fangs, rough scales, two pairs of finlets, and a uniformly brown coloration.[3] Oilfish meat is extremely oily, containing high lipid concentrations. Though edible, the oil mainly consists of wax esters, which makes the meat act as a laxative if consumed in large quantities.[4]
Habitat & Ecologyedit
Oilfish are distributed throughout tropical and temperate waters across the world, being recorded in the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific oceans, including the Mediterranean Sea. They are found in the deep water benthic environments of continental slopes and seamounts, where they group in pairs or remain solitary.[2][3] If food is scarce on the seafloor, at night Oilfish will rise to the surface to prey on other fish, cephalopods, and crustaceans.[4][5]
Importance to Humansedit
Fisheries targeting Oilfish are rare, occurring in small regions of the Atlantic and Pacific through the use of handlines. However, Oilfish are common bycatch for fisheries targeting Tuna and Swordfish, which employ longlines. Despite their laxative-inducing flesh, restaurants sell Oilfish meat under the name "white-fish" on account of its texture and flavor.[4][5]
The flesh of Oilfish is rich in taste and can be substantially cheaper than that of other fish species, leading to some vendors intentionally mislabelling it as Butterfish or Cod. The consumer may then eat larger servings than recommended, unaware of the laxative affect, and suffer from diarrhea.[6]
ParknShop Oilfish Incidentedit
In January 2007, ParknShop, a supermarket chain in Hong Kong, admitted to selling mislabeled Oilfish in their stores. Over 600 people became sick as a result, suffering from stomach pain and diarrhea. A total of 14 complaints were filed against the supermarket chain, leading to an investigation by the Centre for Food Safety. The fish were originally mislabeled in Indonesia, leading to an investigation and allegations of corruption.[7] ParknShop stopped selling the fish, but argued in court that there was no law against the sale of Oilfish. The supermarket would later plead guilty to 9 charges of inappropriate labelling, and was fined HK$45,000.[8][9]
As a result of the incident, the Centre for Food Safety in Hong Kong published new guidelines on the proper labelling of Oilfish and Escolar to consumers, preventing mislabeling.[10][11]
Escolar, an Oilfish relative, also has high concentrations of wax esters and can be similarly mislabeled.
Referencesedit
^Collette, B.B.; Curtis, M.; Smith-Vaniz, W.F.; et al. (2015). "Ruvettus pretiosus". The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2015: e.T190432A16644022. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2015-4.RLTS.T190432A16644022.en.
^ abcFroese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.) (2013). "Ruvettus pretiosus" in FishBase. April 2013 version.
^ abcNakamura, I. and N.V. Parin, 1993. FAO Species Catalogue. Vol. 15. Snake mackerels and cutlassfishes of the world (families Gempylidae and Trichiuridae). An annotated and illustrated catalogue of the snake mackerels, snoeks, escolars, gemfishes, sackfishes, domine, oilfish, cutlassfishes,. scabbardfishes, hairtails, and frostfishes known to date. FAO Fish. Synop. 125(15):136 p.
^ abcVasilakopoulos P, Pavlidis M, Tserpes G. On the diet and reproduction of the oilfish Ruvettus pretiosus (Perciformes: Gempylidae) in the eastern Mediterranean. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom. 2011;91(4):873-881. doi:10.1017/S0025315410001785
^ abViana, Danielle de Lima; Tolotti, Mariana Travassos; Porto, Mariana; Araújo, Rodolfo Jorge Vale de; Vaske Júnior, Teodoro; Hazin, Fabio Hissa Vieira (June 2012). "Diet of the oilfish Ruvettus pretiosus (Perciformes: Gempylidae) in the Saint Peter and Saint Paul archipelago, Brazil". Brazilian Journal of Oceanography. 60 (2): 181–188. doi:10.1590/S1679-87592012000200008. ISSN 1679-8759.
^(PDF). Queensland Health. October 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 29, 2012.
^Kim, Caroline (January 31, 2007). . The Standard. Hong Kong. Archived from the original on March 29, 2008.
^"ParknShop admits selling oil fish as cod". South China Morning Post. 2007-11-20. Retrieved 2024-01-30.
^"ParknShop fined over oilfish scandal". South China Morning Post. 2007-12-18. Retrieved 2024-01-30.
^"Guidelines on identification and labelling of oilfish and cod issued". Hong Kong: Centre for Food Safety. August 16, 2007.
^"Guidelines on Identification and Labelling of Oilfish/Cod" (PDF). Hong Kong: Centre for Food Safety.
^. CBC News. February 23, 2007. Archived from the original on October 23, 2012.
January 01, 1970
oilfish, baikal, comephorus, fish, that, contain, oils, oily, fish, ruvettus, pretiosus, species, snake, mackerel, with, cosmopolitan, distribution, tropical, temperate, oceans, they, found, depths, from, metres, most, often, between, metres, grow, length, met. For the Baikal Oilfish see Comephorus For fish that contain oils see Oily fish Oilfish Ruvettus pretiosus are a species of snake mackerel with a cosmopolitan distribution in tropical and temperate oceans They can be found at depths from 100 to 800 metres 330 to 2 620 ft but most often between 200 and 400 metres 660 and 1 310 ft Oilfish can grow to a length of 3 metres 9 8 ft though most do not exceed 1 5 metres 4 9 ft It is the only known member of its genus 2 3 Oilfish Conservation status Least Concern IUCN 3 1 1 Scientific classification Domain Eukaryota Kingdom Animalia Phylum Chordata Class Actinopterygii Order Scombriformes Family Gempylidae Genus RuvettusCocco 1833 Species R pretiosus Binomial name Ruvettus pretiosusCocco 1833 Synonyms List Rovetus temminckii Cantraine 1833Tetragonurus simplex R T Lowe 1839Thyrsites acanthoderma R T Lowe 1839Thyrsites scholaris Poey 1854Ruvettus tydemani M C W Weber 1913Ruvettus pacificus D S Jordan amp E K Jordan 1922Ruvettus delagoensis Gilchrist amp von Bonde 1924Ruvettus whakari Griffin 1927 An Oilfish 1000 3000 meters deep at Johnston Atoll Contents 1 Description 2 Habitat amp Ecology 3 Importance to Humans 3 1 ParknShop Oilfish Incident 4 See also 5 ReferencesDescription editOilfish are large fusiform fish which often grow to 1 5 metres 4 9 ft and a maximum of 3 metres 9 8 ft 2 Other distinctive features of this fish include the large fangs rough scales two pairs of finlets and a uniformly brown coloration 3 Oilfish meat is extremely oily containing high lipid concentrations Though edible the oil mainly consists of wax esters which makes the meat act as a laxative if consumed in large quantities 4 Habitat amp Ecology editOilfish are distributed throughout tropical and temperate waters across the world being recorded in the Atlantic Indian and Pacific oceans including the Mediterranean Sea They are found in the deep water benthic environments of continental slopes and seamounts where they group in pairs or remain solitary 2 3 If food is scarce on the seafloor at night Oilfish will rise to the surface to prey on other fish cephalopods and crustaceans 4 5 Importance to Humans editFisheries targeting Oilfish are rare occurring in small regions of the Atlantic and Pacific through the use of handlines However Oilfish are common bycatch for fisheries targeting Tuna and Swordfish which employ longlines Despite their laxative inducing flesh restaurants sell Oilfish meat under the name white fish on account of its texture and flavor 4 5 The flesh of Oilfish is rich in taste and can be substantially cheaper than that of other fish species leading to some vendors intentionally mislabelling it as Butterfish or Cod The consumer may then eat larger servings than recommended unaware of the laxative affect and suffer from diarrhea 6 ParknShop Oilfish Incident edit In January 2007 ParknShop a supermarket chain in Hong Kong admitted to selling mislabeled Oilfish in their stores Over 600 people became sick as a result suffering from stomach pain and diarrhea A total of 14 complaints were filed against the supermarket chain leading to an investigation by the Centre for Food Safety The fish were originally mislabeled in Indonesia leading to an investigation and allegations of corruption 7 ParknShop stopped selling the fish but argued in court that there was no law against the sale of Oilfish The supermarket would later plead guilty to 9 charges of inappropriate labelling and was fined HK 45 000 8 9 As a result of the incident the Centre for Food Safety in Hong Kong published new guidelines on the proper labelling of Oilfish and Escolar to consumers preventing mislabeling 10 11 The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in 2007 reported several cases in Canada where mislabelled Oilfish was sold at Chinese supermarkets 12 See also editEscolar an Oilfish relative also has high concentrations of wax esters and can be similarly mislabeled References edit Collette B B Curtis M Smith Vaniz W F et al 2015 Ruvettus pretiosus The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2015 e T190432A16644022 doi 10 2305 IUCN UK 2015 4 RLTS T190432A16644022 en a b c Froese Rainer Pauly Daniel eds 2013 Ruvettus pretiosus in FishBase April 2013 version a b c Nakamura I and N V Parin 1993 FAO Species Catalogue Vol 15 Snake mackerels and cutlassfishes of the world families Gempylidae and Trichiuridae An annotated and illustrated catalogue of the snake mackerels snoeks escolars gemfishes sackfishes domine oilfish cutlassfishes scabbardfishes hairtails and frostfishes known to date FAO Fish Synop 125 15 136 p a b c Vasilakopoulos P Pavlidis M Tserpes G On the diet and reproduction of the oilfish Ruvettus pretiosus Perciformes Gempylidae in the eastern Mediterranean Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2011 91 4 873 881 doi 10 1017 S0025315410001785 a b Viana Danielle de Lima Tolotti Mariana Travassos Porto Mariana Araujo Rodolfo Jorge Vale de Vaske Junior Teodoro Hazin Fabio Hissa Vieira June 2012 Diet of the oilfish Ruvettus pretiosus Perciformes Gempylidae in the Saint Peter and Saint Paul archipelago Brazil Brazilian Journal of Oceanography 60 2 181 188 doi 10 1590 S1679 87592012000200008 ISSN 1679 8759 Escolar and oilfish health warning PDF Queensland Health October 2011 Archived from the original PDF on March 29 2012 Kim Caroline January 31 2007 All parties in oilfish saga to face probe The Standard Hong Kong Archived from the original on March 29 2008 ParknShop admits selling oil fish as cod South China Morning Post 2007 11 20 Retrieved 2024 01 30 ParknShop fined over oilfish scandal South China Morning Post 2007 12 18 Retrieved 2024 01 30 Guidelines on identification and labelling of oilfish and cod issued Hong Kong Centre for Food Safety August 16 2007 Guidelines on Identification and Labelling of Oilfish Cod PDF Hong Kong Centre for Food Safety Canadians fall ill after eating mislabelled oily fish CBC News February 23 2007 Archived from the original on October 23 2012 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Oilfish amp oldid 1214849474, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
