Opah

Opah
Temporal range: Late Miocene–present [1]
Lampris guttatus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Lampriformes
Family: Lampridae
Gill, 1862
Genus: Lampris
Retzius, 1799
Species

See text

Opahs, also commonly known as moonfish, sunfish, cowfish (not to be confused with Molidae), kingfish, and redfin ocean pan are large, colorful, deep-bodied pelagic lampriform fishes comprising the small family Lampridae (also spelled Lamprididae).

The family comprises two genera: Lampris (from Ancient Greek λαμπρός (lamprós) 'brilliant, clear') and the monotypic Megalampris[2] (known only from fossil remains). The extinct family, Turkmenidae, from the Paleogene of Central Asia, is closely related, though much smaller.

In 2015, Lampris guttatus was discovered to have near-whole-body endothermy[3][4][5] in which the entire core of the body is maintained at around 5 °C above the surrounding water. This is unique among fish as most fish are entirely cold blooded or are capable of warming only some parts of their bodies.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference sep2002 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference JVP was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Wegner, Nicholas C.; Snodgrass, Owyn E.; Dewar, Heidi; Hyde, John R. (15 May 2015). "Whole-body endothermy in a mesopelagic fish, the opah, Lampris guttatus". Science. 348 (6236): 786–789. doi:10.1126/science.aaa8902. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 25977549. Retrieved 18 February 2021.
  4. ^ Pappas, Stephanie; LiveScience. "First Warm-Blooded Fish Discovered". Scientific American. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference SWFSC was invoked but never defined (see the help page).