Opah

Opah
Temporal range: Late Miocene to present
Lampris guttatus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Class:
Actinopterygii
Order:
Lampriformes
Family:
Lampridae
Genus:
Lampris

Retzius, 1799

Opahs (moonfish, kingfish, or sunfish) are large, colorful fish. They are in a small family, the Lampridae. The family has only two living species in one genus, Lampris. The opah is the only known fish that is completely warm-blooded.

One species lives in tropical or temperate waters in most oceans. The other species lives in the Southern Ocean. Opahs are not often caught by recreational fishermen. Opah flesh has a light pink-to-orange color. The flesh turns white when cooked.

References

  1. ↑ Sepkoski, Jack (2002). "A compendium of fossil marine animal genera". Bulletins of American Paleontology. 364: 560. Archived from the original on 20 February 2009. Retrieved 8 January 2008.
  2. ↑ Yong, Ed 2015. Meet the Comical Opah, the only truly warm-blooded fish. National Geographic, 14 May.