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Opah (Lampris guttatus)

Fish of the Lampris genus of the Lampridae (Opahs) family of the Bathysomi suborder of the Lampriformes order of the Lampridiomorpha superorder.

Lampris guttatus

(Opah. Photo by © Hofinger Tier-Präparationen. fishbase.org)

Opah, or cravo, moonfish, kingfish (Lampris guttatus) was first described in 1788 by the Danish zoologist and mineralogist Morten Thrane Brünnich (1737-1827).

It is a bathypelagic species. It inhabits the depths of 100-500 meters. It is usually up to 370 meters long. The maximum recorded length is 200 cm; specimens up to 120 cm are more common. The maximum weight is 270 kilograms. It’s an individual predator. It feeds on fish and invertebrates, mainly squid.

Lampris guttatus 2

(Opah. Photo by ©Ralph Pace. swfsc.noaa.gov)

It’s a rare inhabitant of the Adriatic.

Names of Opah (Lampris guttatus) in other languages are as follows:

Koningsvis (Dutch), Λαμπρόψαρο (Ljambropsaro) (Greek), Opa (Spanish), Pesce re (Italian), Gotteslachs (German), Strojnik (Polish), Peixe-cravo (Portuguese), Обыкновенный опах (Obyknovenniy opah) (Russian), Nevjesta (Croatian, Serbian), Svetlica (Slovenian), Opah (French), Leskyně skvrnitá (Czech).