| Pelagic armorhead | |
|---|---|
| Drawing by Dr Tony Ayling | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Perciformes |
| Family: | Pentacerotidae |
| Genus: | Pseudopentaceros |
| Species: | P. richardsoni |
| Binomial name | |
| Pseudopentaceros richardsoni (Smith, 1844) |
|
The pelagic armorhead, pelagic armourhead, Richardson's boarfish, or southern boarfish, Pseudopentaceros richardsoni, is an armorhead of the genus Pseudopentaceros, found in the north and south Pacific Ocean, South Africa, South America, and the South Island of New Zealand, from the surface to depths of 300 metres on the continental shelf. Its length is between 30 and 50 cm.
Because its spawning grounds were confined to a few seamounts in the central North Pacific, the pelagic armorhead was easily overfished. Soviet and Japanese trawlers took approximately 900,000 tons beginning in 1969; by 1984, the pelagic armorhead had been fished to commercial extinction. It has never been widely eaten in Europe or the United States.