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Variola louti (Fabricius, 1775)

Yellow-edged lyretail
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Variola louti   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Perciformes/Serranoidei (Groupers) > Epinephelidae (Groupers)
Etymology: Variola: Latin, variolus = pustule, pock (Ref. 45335).

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; reef-associated; non-migratory; depth range 3 - 300 m (Ref. 89972), usually 15 - ? m (Ref. 5222). Tropical; 30°N - 37°S, 30°E - 23°W (Ref. 5222)

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Indo-Pacific: Red Sea to South Africa and the Pitcairn Islands, north to southern Japan, south to New South Wales, Australia. Not found in the Persian Gulf nor in Hawaii.

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm 47.6, range 41 - ? cm
Max length : 83.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 40637); common length : 75.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 5450); max. published weight: 12.0 kg (Ref. 5222)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 9; Dorsal soft rays (total): 13 - 14; Anal spines: 3; Anal soft rays: 8. This species is distinguished by the following characters: body oblong, its depth less than head length and 2.8-3.3 in SL; preopercle rounded, finely serrate, the lower edge fleshy; opercle with 3 flat spines; upper edge of operculum almost straight; 1-3 large canines at midside of lower jaw; gill rakers of first gill arch 7-10 + 15-18 (including 6-87 rudiments on each limb); D IX,13-14; caudal fin lunate, the upper and lower lobes produced, about twice length of middle rays; pectoral-fin rays 16-19; lateral-line scales 66-77; lateral scale series 113-135. Colour of head, body, and median fins yellowish brown to orange-red (specimens from deep water more reddish) with numerous small round or elongate spots of blue, lavender or pink; rear margin of median fins broadly yellow; pectoral-fin rays red to brown, the distal third abruptly yellow[ large juveniles (10-25 cm SL) with irregular black band along dorsal part of body ending below rear of dorsal fin and continuing on head (up to eye) as 3 irregular black spots; black blotch at base of upper caudal-fin rays; head and body (including black band) with small pale blue to pink spots; a pale yellow or white stripe mid-dorsally on head from tip of lower jaw to dorsal-fin origin; small juveniles (< 7 cm SL) lack the black band and black spots on dorsal part of head and body (Ref. 39231, 89707, 90102).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Usually seen in clear-water areas at depths below 15 m, and prefers islands and offshore reefs rather than continental shores. Feeds mainly on fishes, and on crabs, shrimps and stomatopods. It is highly appreciated for the quality of its flesh. It may not be sold in Mauritius because of cases of ciguatera poisoning (Ref. 11888). In the Hong Kong live fish markets (Ref. 27253). This common and important food fish is caught with handlines, spear, and traps (Ref. 39231).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturities | Reproduction | Spawnings | Egg(s) | Fecundities | Larvae

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Heemstra, P.C. and J.E. Randall, 1993. FAO Species Catalogue. Vol. 16. Groupers of the world (family Serranidae, subfamily Epinephelinae). An annotated and illustrated catalogue of the grouper, rockcod, hind, coral grouper and lyretail species known to date. Rome: FAO. FAO Fish. Synop. 125(16):382 p. (Ref. 5222)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 22 November 2016

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Reports of ciguatera poisoning (Ref. 4690)





Human uses

Fisheries: commercial; gamefish: yes; aquarium: commercial
FAO - Fisheries: landings; Publication: search | FishSource | Sea Around Us

More information

Trophic ecology
Food items
Diet compositions
Food consumptions
Food rations
Predators
Ecology
Ecology
Population dynamics
Growths
Max. ages / sizes
Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
Length-frequencies
Mass conversions
Recruitments
Abundances
Life cycle
Reproduction
Maturities
Fecundities
Spawnings
Spawning aggregations
Egg(s)
Egg developments
Larvae
Larval dynamics
Distribution
Countries
FAO areas
Ecosystems
Occurrences
Introductions
BRUVS - Videos
Anatomy
Gill areas
Brains
Otoliths
Physiology
Body compositions
Nutrients
Oxygen consumptions
Swimming type
Swimming speeds
Visual pigment(s)
Fish sounds
Diseases / Parasites
Toxicities (LC50s)
Genetics
Genetics
Electrophoreses
Heritabilities
Human related
Aquaculture systems
Aquaculture profiles
Strains
Ciguatera cases
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References
References

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Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Fisheries: landings; Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GenBank: genome, nucleotide | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | National databases | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 123201): 20.1 - 28.9, mean 27.2 °C (based on 2394 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.7500   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.01096 (0.00991 - 0.01213), b=3.03 (3.00 - 3.06), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  4.3   ±0.7 se; based on diet studies.
Generation time: 6.1 ( na - na) years. Estimated as median ln(3)/K based on 2 growth studies.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (Tmax=7-15; K=0.18).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Moderate vulnerability (43 of 100).
Climate Vulnerability (Ref. 125649):  High to very high vulnerability (72 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Very high.
Nutrients (Ref. 124155):  Calcium = 23.1 [14.3, 39.1] mg/100g; Iron = 0.488 [0.265, 0.792] mg/100g; Protein = 18.6 [16.8, 20.3] %; Omega3 = 0.161 [0.108, 0.250] g/100g; Selenium = 51.4 [30.8, 91.4] μg/100g; VitaminA = 106 [40, 341] μg/100g; Zinc = 0.738 [0.519, 1.037] mg/100g (wet weight);