imperial blackfish
Schedophilus ovalis (Cuvier, 1833)
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Schedophilus ovalis, Azores, Portugal
opisska · CC BY 4.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
The imperial blackfish, Schedophilus ovalis, is a medusafish of the family Centrolophidae found in the eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean Sea, and occasionally in the western Atlantic (Bermuda). It occurs at depths of between 70 and 700 m. In its juvenile stage, it is often found finding shelter amongst the tentacles of floating jellyfish, including the Portuguese man o' war. It grows to 100 cm (39 in) total length.
Wikipedia contributors, Imperial blackfish; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T07:27:42.330162+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Schedophilus ovalis (Cuvier, 1833)
- Name authority
- (Cuvier, 1833)
- Common name
- imperial blackfish
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Scombriformes
- Family
- Centrolophidae
- Genus
- Schedophilus
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Source habitat flags: Marine: yes · Freshwater: no · Terrestrial: no. These do not form a complete habitat description.
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- gigaclassActinopterygii
- superclassActinopteri
- classTeleostei
- orderScombriformes
- familyCentrolophidae Bonaparte, 1846
- genusSchedophilus Cocco, 1839
- speciesSchedophilus ovalis (Cuvier, 1833)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Schedophilus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Cornish blackfishSchedophilus medusophagus (Cocco, 1839) | CentrolophidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Schedophilus velaini (Sauvage, 1879) | CentrolophidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Schedophilus haedrichi Chirichigno F., 1973 | CentrolophidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Schedophilus huttoni (Waite, 1910) | CentrolophidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Schedophilus maculatus Günther, 1860 | CentrolophidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Schedophilus pemarco (Poll, 1959) | CentrolophidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Leirus bennettii Lowe, 1834 Lowe, 1834 | synonym |
| Mupus imperialis Cocco, 1840 Cocco, 1840 | synonym |
| Mupus ovalis (Cuvier, 1833) (Cuvier, 1833) | synonym |
| Schedophilus botteri Steindachner, 1868 Steindachner, 1868 | synonym |
| Centrolophus ovalis Cuvier, 1833 Cuvier, 1833 | synonym |
| Centrolophus porosissimus Canestrini, 1864 Canestrini, 1864 | synonym |
| Crius berthelotii Valenciennes, 1839 Valenciennes, 1839 | synonym |
| Eucrotus ventralis Bean, 1912 Bean, 1912 | synonym |
| Centrolophus crassus Cuvier, 1833 Cuvier, 1833 | synonym |
| Centrolophus corcyrensis Kolombatovic, 1902 Kolombatovic, 1902 | synonym |
| Centrolophus rotundicauda Costa, 1866 Costa, 1866 | synonym |
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=126834 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:4V6GH. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.