Author: Lowe, 1839
FBname: Black scabbardfish
Comments: Juveniles mesopelagic (Ref. 6181).  Bathypelagic (Ref. 58426).  Migrate to midwater at night and feed on crustaceans, cephalopods and fishes (mostly macrourids, morids and alepocephalids).  Mature at 80 to 85 cm.  Eggs and larvae are pelagic (Ref. 6768). Data from study reveal mature individuals undertake horizontal migration to spawning and nursery grounds located off the Madeira and Canary islands (Ref. 108708).  Commercial catch up to 1000 t was caught off Madeira with a specialized commercial deep water longline (Ref. 6255).  Appear as bycatch in the trawl fishery west of the British Isles, along the Middle-Atlantic Ridge and at Corner Rise.  Important and fabled food fish in Madeira (Ref. 4537).  Some specimens reach 145 cm (Nuno Marques, Nomad@netmadeira.com, 12/09).