focus fishing

Bluenose Warehou

SPECIES INFORMATION

  • The Bluenose Warehou lives in the southern hemisphere around New Zealand in the temperate waters. Also known as the Hyperoglyphe Antarctica or the blue eye trevalla, Antarctic butterfish, bluenose sea bass, deep sea trevalla, this fish belongs to the Centrolophidae family and it is a medusafish. The fish stays in a depth of 40 to 1500m.
  • The Bluenose Warehou has a dark metallic, blue or black to grey colour at the back of its body. It is grey to silver color on the belly and on the sides. The colour of the Bluenose Warehou is dependent on their living environment. It has a blunt snout and its body is laterally compressed. The fish has large eyes that are low on its head. They have prominent dorsal fins and large mouths. The larger fishes have a bronze sheen seen along the flanks.
  • The commercial fishermen use the deep long lines set in the same place where they catch the deep sea bass and the groper. They also catch it by trawling near the reefs in deep water. Trawl and long lining are used to catch the Bluenose Warehou all year round. These are mostly caught from the offshore reefs or from the drop off areas.
    Anglers prefer to not play with food in such deep waters. The Bluenose Warehou is a strong fighter on the line and rod and this means that the recreational anglers avoid it.

SIZE

The Bluenose Warehou grows to a length of 1.4 m and it weighs over 50 kgs. The mature fishes have a length of 62 to 72 cms. The average age of the fish is 8-12 years. The average size of this fish, however, is decreasing slowly.

RANGE

The Bluenose Warehou can be found in the southeast and southwest Atlantic, off South Africa, the West Indian Ocean as well as in Australia and New Zealand. It is a deep-water species and is seldom seen by the anglers.

HABITAT

The Bluenose Warehou mostly stays near or over the rocky areas at 100-300 meters. They usually stay close to the seabed during the day time. At night, they move up in the water column. They do this to follow the food concentration. The fish can be found in the rougher grounds, in the steep drop-offs, and edges of the canyons. They prefer to stay in cold water. The juvenile stay in the surface waters.

It does not necessarily mean that the Bluenose Warehou stay near the bottom only. There are schools of Bluenose Warehou that will live well in the mid-water too.

DIET

The Bluenose Warehou thrives on pelagic tunicate Pyrosoma Atlantica. This is found near the seabed during the daytime and gets dispersed through the water column during the night time. The fishes also feed on mollusks, squid. small lanternfish, and crustaceans. They may feed on larger fishes like gemfish. The juvenile will feed on the sedentary organisms and on the small planktonic. This fish species can also be cannibalistic in nature.

[species-single]