Louvar

The louvar or luvar (Luvarus imperialis) is a species of perciform fish, the only extant species in the genus Luvarus and family Luvaridae. It is closely related to the surgeonfish. The juvenile form has a pair of spines near the base of the tail, like the surgeonfish, though they are lost in the adult.

Louvar
Not evaluated (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Class:
Actinopterygii
Order:
Perciformes
Suborder:
Acanthuroidei
Family:
Luvaridae

Genus:
Luvarus

Species:
L. imperialis
Binomial name
Luvarus imperialis
Synonyms

For genus:

  • Ausonia A. Risso, 1827
  • Diana A. Risso, 1827
  • Proctostegus Nardo, 1827
  • Proluvarus Daniltshenko, 1968
  • Astrodermus G. Cuvier, 1829
  • Scrofaria Gistel, 1848

For species:

  • Astrodermus guttatus G. Cuvier, 1829
  • Astrodermus coryphaenoides G. Cuvier & Valenciennes, 1833
  • Ausonia cuvieri A. Risso, 1827
  • Coryphaena elegans A. Risso, 1827 in G. Cuvier, 1833[1]
  • Diana semilunata A. Risso, 1827[2]
  • Diana valenciennesii Cocco & Scuderi, 1835
  • Astrodermus elegans Bonaparte, 1839
  • Astroderma plumbeum R. T. Lowe, 1843
  • Proctostegus proctostegus Nardo, 1827
  • Proctostegus prototypus Nardo, 1827

It is a large, ellipsoidal fish, growing to 200 cm (79 in) long, though most do not exceed 152 cm (60 in). The greatest weight recorded for this species is 150 kg (330 lb).[3] It is pink in color and possesses a characteristic bulging forehead.

It is found in surface waters of temperate and tropical oceans throughout the world where it can be found at depths of from near the surface to 200 m (660 ft). It feeds on jellyfish, ctenophores, and other soft-bodied planktonic animals. It is hardly ever found in fish markets in the United States, only as bycatch, but is prized as an eating fish.[4]

Extinct taxa

One extinct species in the genus Luvaris and two extinct genera are only known from fossils dating back to the Paleogene, three extinct genera if one includes Kushlukia of the monotypic Kushlukiidae:

Timeline
QuaternaryNeogenePaleogeneHolocenePleist.MioceneOligoceneEocenePaleoceneLuvarusQuaternaryNeogenePaleogeneHolocenePleist.MioceneOligoceneEocenePaleocene

References
  1. Histoire naturelle des poissons, Volume 22, Georges Cuvier, 1833
  2. Histoire naturelle des principales productions de l'Europe méridionale et particulièrement de celles des environs de Nice et des Alpes Maritimes. Risso, A. (Antoine), Paris, F.-G. Levrault, 1826, tome III, page 267, doi:10.5962/bhl.title.58984
  3. Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2013). "Luvarus imperialis" in FishBase. December 2013 version.
  4. "Louvar: A Fish You May Never Taste". Larry Levine, Table Talk at Larry's. January 3, 2012.
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