Stromateidae

Butterfish
Peprilus paru
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 three genera. Butterfishes live in coastal waters off the Americas, western Africa and in the Indo-Pacific.

The endemic New Zealand species Odax pullus is commonly called butterfish, but is from a separate family Odacidae. The Japanese butterfish Psenopsis anomala is from the separate family Centrolophidae.

Species

Timeline

Quaternary Neogene Paleogene Holocene Miocene Oligocene Eocene Paleocene Quaternary Neogene Paleogene Holocene Miocene Oligocene Eocene Paleocene

Mislabelling

Escolar is sometimes fraudulently labelled as butterfish. This can be more hazardous than other fish mislabeling due to the potential health effects of escolar.

References