Patagonian toothfish

For the fish sculpture "Plastic Mero", see Bordalo II.
"Chilean Sea Bass" redirects here. For the cracker that was known from October 23 to October 30 as Chilean Sea Bass, see Goldfish (cracker).

Patagonian toothfish
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Perciformes
Family: Nototheniidae
Genus: Dissostichus
Species:
D. eleginoides
Binomial name
Dissostichus eleginoides
Smitt, 1898
Synonyms[1]

The Patagonian toothfish (Dissostichus eleginoides), also known as Chilean sea bass, mero, and icefish,[2] is a species of notothen found in cold waters (1–4 °C or 34–39 °F) between depths of 45 and 3,850 m (150 and 12,630 ft) in the southern Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans and Southern Ocean on seamounts and continental shelves around most Subantarctic islands.

The average weight of a commercially caught Patagonian toothfish is 7–10 kg (15–22 lb), depending on the fishery, with large adults occasionally exceeding 100 kg (220 lb). They are thought to live up to 50 years[3] and to reach a length up to 2.3 m (7.5 ft). Several commercial fisheries exist for Patagonian toothfish, which are detailed below.

A close relative, the Antarctic toothfish (Dissostichus mawsoni), is found farther south around the edges of the Antarctic shelf, and a Marine Stewardship Council-certified fishery is active in the Ross Sea; it is also sometimes marketed as Chilean sea bass.[4][5]

  1. ^ Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Dissostichus eleginoides". FishBase. June 2021 version.
  2. ^ "Patagonian Toothfish". FishChoice. November 5, 2014. Retrieved July 30, 2023.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Brickle et al. 2010 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ "Chilean sea bass". Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary. Merriam-Webster. Retrieved March 22, 2021.
  5. ^ "Toothfish". Coalition of Legal Toothfish Operators. 2015. Retrieved March 22, 2021.