Sablefish

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Sablefish

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Scorpaeniformes
Family:	Anoplopomatidae
Genus:	Anoplopoma
Species:	A. fimbria

Binomial name

Anoplopoma fimbria
Pallas, 1814

The sablefish, Anoplopoma fimbria, is one of two members of the fish family Anoplopomatidae and the only species in the Anoplopoma genus. In English it is also called sable (USA), butterfish (USA/Australia), black cod (UK, Canada), blue cod (UK), bluefish (UK), candlefish (UK), coal cod (UK), and coalfish (Canada), although many of these names also refer to other species.

The sable fish is found in muddy sea beds in the North Pacific at depths of 300 to 2,700 meters, and is commercially important to Japan. It also is considered a delicacy in many countries for its sweet taste and flaky texture.

1 Ecology
2 Nutrition
3 Confusion
4 References

[edit] Ecology

The sablefish (Anoplopoma fimbria) is a species of deep sea fish common to the North Pacific ocean. Adult sablefish are opportunistic feeders, preying on fish (including walleye pollock, eulachon, capelin, herring, sandlance, and Pacific cod), squid, euphasids, jellyfish (Yang and Nelson 2000). Sablefish are long-lived species, with a maximum recorded age of 94 years (Kimura et al. 1998).

[edit] Nutrition

Sablefish is very high in healthy long-chain omega 3 fatty acids, EPA and DHA. It contains approximately as much as wild salmon. Wild Alaskan sablefish are also very low in PCBs, dioxins, and mercury.

[edit] Confusion

"Snow Fish" is short of supply in Thailand due to its popularity, and many Japanese restaurants in Thailand use Patagonian toothfish (Dissostichus eleginoides), also known as Chilean Sea Bass, as a substitute.

[edit] References

Anoplopoma fimbria (TSN 167123). Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved on 24 January 2006.
"Anoplopoma fimbria". FishBase. Ed. Ranier Froese and Daniel Pauly. 10 2005 version. N.p.: FishBase, 2005.
Alaskan sablefish stock assessment
[1]
Yang, M-S and M. W. Nelson 2000. Food habits of the commercially important groundfishes in the Gulf of Alaska in 1990, 1993, and 1996. NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-AFSC-112. 174 p.
Kimura, Daniel K., A. M. Shaw and F. R. Shaw 1998. Stock Structure and movement of tagged sablefish, , Anoplopoma fimbria, in offshore northeast Pacific waters and the effects of El Nino-Southern Oscillation on migration and growth. Fish. Bull. 96:462-481.