The Pacific rudderfish (''Psenopsis anomala'') is a marine fish also known by such names as Japanese butterfish, melon seed, wart perch, ibodai ( Japanese name, イボダイ) or simply but ambiguously as butterfish. This fish, which can grow to TL, is found in the Western Pacific, near

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, in the

Taiwan Strait The Taiwan Strait is a -wide strait separating the island of Taiwan and continental Asia. The strait is part of the South China Sea and connects to the East China Sea to the north. The narrowest part is wide. The Taiwan Strait is itself a s ...

and in the

East China Sea The East China Sea is an arm of the Western Pacific Ocean, located directly offshore from East China. It covers an area of roughly . The sea’s northern extension between mainland China and the Korean Peninsula is the Yellow Sea, separated b ...

. The Japanese butterfish prefers tropical waters: around 42°N–19°N. It has been found in the waters near

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

. Generally they inhabit the epipelagic layer to 370 m (1213 ft). Adults are mainly bottom-dwelling but migrate upward at night in search of food. The Japanese butterfish has a compressed body, somewhat oval-shaped, and is whitish to grayish in colour; in the young fish, the colour is darker: a pale brown or blackish brown. Some other features of this fish are a robust snout, a relatively small mouth, and the upper jaw extending to below anterior margin of eye. The fish's teeth are small, conical, and incisor-like. Spines of the Japanese butterfish's dorsal fin are short and not separated from the soft-rayed portion. The scales on the body of the butterfish are small, cycloid, and very deciduous (meaning that they are shed off easily). This species is of economic importance, commercially sought after, and caught by trawl by

ese and

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

ese fishermen. The total catch reported for this species in 1999 was 10,871 t, with Taiwan (5,075 t), and Japan (4,996 t) making up nearly all the catch. The meat of the Japanese butterfish is very popular as food in its native range. It is said to be a tasty fish that can be steamed, pan-fried, or used in sushi.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2794605 Japanese butterfish Commercial fish Japanese seafood Fish of Japan Marine fauna of East Asia Japanese butterfish