Rexea solandri, Silver gemfish : fisheries

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Rexea solandri (Cuvier, 1832)

Silver gemfish
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Rexea solandri   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Rexea solandri (Silver gemfish)
Rexea solandri
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New Zealand territory information

Common names: Gemfish, Hake, Southern kingfish
Occurrence: native
Salinity: marine
Abundance: | Ref:
Importance: highly commercial | Ref: Nakamura, I. and N.V. Parin, 1993
Aquaculture: | Ref:
Regulations: | Ref:
Uses: no uses
Comments: Stock structure: Two stocks are assumed - a southern/west-coast stock and a northern/east-coast stock (Ref. 28836) - but these stocks have not been confirmed either biochemically or morphologically. The presumed stock boundaries occur somewhere on the east coast of the South Island and somewhere on the west coast, perhaps between the North and South Islands (Ref. 28836). Taken by trawls during the summer. Voucher specimen(s) held at the NMNZ. Also Ref. 45493.
National Checklist:
Territory Information: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/geos/nz.html
National Fisheries Authority: http://www.fish.govt.nz/
Occurrences: Occurrences Point map
Main Ref: Nakamura, I. and N.V. Parin, 1993
National Database:

Common names from other countries

Escolier tifiati, Escolar plateado, Рексия южная (=южная змеевидная макрель), ... more

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Scombriformes (Mackerels) > Gempylidae (Snake mackerels)
Etymology: Rexea: Latin, rex, rego = king.
Eponymy: Daniel Carl [Karl] Solander (1733–1782) was a Swedish naturalist and explorer who was one of Linnaeus’s pupils at Uppsala. [...] (Ref. 128868), visit book page.
More on author: Cuvier.

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

Marine; benthopelagic; oceanodromous (Ref. 51243); depth range 100 - 800 m (Ref. 6181), usually 300 - 450 m (Ref. 28786). Deep-water; 25°S - 48°S, 109°E - 173°W (Ref. 6181)

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

Southwest Pacific: off southern, southwestern and southeastern Australia, Tasmania and New Zealand. Occurrence records from Madagascar and Japan need to be verified.

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm 65.0, range 60 - 70 cm
Max length : 110 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 6181); max. published weight: 16.0 kg (Ref. 28838); max. reported age: 16 years (Ref. 28789)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 18 - 19; Dorsal soft rays (total): 16 - 19; Anal spines: 2; Anal soft rays: 13 - 16; Vertebrae: 36. Body entirely scaled at over 25 cm SL. Lateral line branching below the 5th to the 6th spine of the first dorsal fin. The upper branch reaches beyond the origin of the second dorsal fin, usually ending between the 8th to the 12th soft ray. The lower branch runs mid laterally, undulating above the anal-fin base. Body is bluish above, silvery below, a black blotch distally on two anterior membranes of the first dorsal fin, the rest of the fin is grayish.
Body shape (shape guide): elongated; Cross section: compressed.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Found in schools on continental shelf and slope. They are normally caught close to the sea bed but probably move into midwater at times (Ref. 28786). Juveniles are pelagic, adults also occur near the surface off Tasmania and New Zealand. Dense schools of pre-spawners migrate along the continental slope at about 400 m during winter (Ref. 9563). Feed on fish, squid and crustaceans. The flesh is of good edible quality and especially tasty when smoked. In Australia, the eastern gemfish stock has been subjected to a prolonged period of poor recruitment which started in 1989 (Ref. 28843, 28786). This event resulted in a very significant decline in the gemfish resource. In Australia, efforts are now being channeled towards the recovery of the fishery.

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Larvae are caught in inshore waters which may indicate that gemfish move onto the shelf to spawn, or currents carry larvae in from offshore spawning grounds (Ref. 28786).

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator : Parin, Nikolay V. | Collaborators

Nakamura, I. and N.V. Parin, 1993. FAO Species Catalogue. Vol. 15. Snake mackerels and cutlassfishes of the world (families Gempylidae and Trichiuridae). An annotated and illustrated catalogue of the snake mackerels, snoeks, escolars, gemfishes, sackfishes, domine, oilfish, cutlassfishes,. scabbardfishes, hairtails, and frostfishes known to date. FAO Fish. Synop. 125(15):136 p. (Ref. 6181)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2025-2)

Not Evaluated 

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Fisheries: commercial
FAO - Fisheries: landings; Publication: search | FIRMS - Stock assessments | FishSource | Sea Around Us

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Internet sources

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

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 123201): 8.4 - 13.6, mean 10.4 °C (based on 52 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5078   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00347 (0.00191 - 0.00629), b=3.13 (2.96 - 3.30), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species & (Sub)family-body (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  4.3   ±0.66 se; based on food items.
Generation time: 5.4 (4.5 - 6.6) years. Estimated as median ln(3)/K based on 14 growth studies.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Low, minimum population doubling time 4.5 - 14 years (K=0.11-0.21; tm=3-6; tmax=16; Fec=500,000).
Prior r = 0.43, 95% CL = 0.28 - 0.64, Based on 2 full stock assessments.
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  High vulnerability (58 of 100). 🛈
Climate Vulnerability (Ref. 125649):  High to very high vulnerability (65 of 100). 🛈
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Very high.
Nutrients (Ref. 124155):  Calcium = 11 [4, 29] mg/100g; Iron = 0.306 [0.113, 0.902] mg/100g; Protein = 15.6 [13.2, 18.3] %; Omega3 = 0.228 [0.114, 0.465] g/100g; Selenium = 25.8 [10.5, 61.4] μg/100g; VitaminA = 15.4 [3.4, 72.8] μg/100g; Zinc = 0.291 [0.195, 0.444] mg/100g (wet weight); based on nutrient studies.