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Fish, Crustaceans & Cephalopods

Beche De Mer
(Sea Cucumber)

Hairtail are related to barracoutas and frost fish.  They are also known as cutlass fish and ribbonfish.

The Australian hairtail is a very silvery fish with a highly compressed, scaleless body tapering to a threadlike tail.  The dorsal fin is continuous from the back of the head.  The mouth contains a single series of razor-sharp compressed teeth in both jaws, the lower jaw being longer than the upper.  The upper jaw has two pairs of enlarged, barbed teeth in front and their are minute teeth on the palatines.

Hairtail tend to more in schools, this being obvious when a collection of fishing boats are grouped in a small bay.  When the fish arrive the action transfers from one boat to the next as the school passes, invariably returning to the first boat as the bay is circled.  This process continues until, for unknown reasons, they all suddenly disappear.

Hairtail are seldom caught or seen during daylight hours or at periods of low tide.

[Main Australian Fish & Seafood Page]

SIZE: whole 1.5-3 kg

IDENTIFYING FEATURES: A very long and extremely condensed body with uniform sides and silvery smooth skin. The dorsal fin is extremely long, not divided into two parts and lacking finlets. The caudal fin is comparatively small.

COMPARISONS: Distinctive with its greatly elongated body, small head and fang-like teeth in the upper jaw.

FILLETS: Very long and slender, barely tapering. The flesh is white and of delicate texture, excellent eating.

HABITAT: Semi-pelagic near the bottom of the continental slope mainly in 300-600 meter depth.

CATCHING METHOD: Longliners.