Bigeye Pacific Opah, Lampris megalopsis Underkoffler, Luers, Hyde & Craig 2018

Other Names: Bigeye Moonfish

Holotype of the Bigeye Pacific Opah, Lampris megalopsis, USNM 402733, a female from the north-west Pacific Ocean. Source: Fig. 4F, in Underkoffler et al. (2019) Zootaxa 4413(3): 551–565. License: All rights reserved

Summary:

A steel grey opah becoming bright silver below, with irregular white spots over the entire body, head, and chest, and deep red fins.

Cite this page as:

Bray, D.J. 2020, Lampris megalopsis in Fishes of Australia, accessed 16 Apr 2025, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/home/species/5546

Bigeye Pacific Opah, Lampris megalopsis Underkoffler, Luers, Hyde & Craig 2018

More Info

Distribution	Known in Australian waters from east of Middleton and Elizabeth Reefs in the Tasman Sea (genetic samples only); likely to be more widespread in Australian waters. The species is only rarely found east of 160°W based on the frequency of its occurrence in more than 500 DNA samples. Elsewhere the species is circumglobal in tropical waters: Central-North Pacific west to American Samoa, Australia and Indonesia, South Africa (Indian Ocean), the Gulf of Mexico, and along the Chilean coastline.
Features	https://www.biotaxa.org/Zootaxa/article/view/zootaxa.4413.3.9
Similar Species	This species is covered in pale spots, and is much deeper-bodied than Lampris immaculatus. It has a larger eye than Lampris australensis.
Etymology	The specific name megalopsis is from the Greek mega (= big, large) and ops (= eye) in reference to the comparatively large eye of this species.
Species Citation	Lampris megalopsis Underkoffler, Luers, Hyde & Craig 2018, Zootaxa 4413(3): 561, fig. 4F. Type locality: north-west Pacific Ocean [23°–26° N, 140°–155° W].
Author	Bray, D.J. 2020
Resources	Atlas of Living Australia Australian Faunal Directory Catalog of Fishes

Bigeye Pacific Opah, Lampris megalopsis Underkoffler, Luers, Hyde & Craig 2018

References

Fricke, R., Allen, G.R., Amon, D., Andréfouët, S., Chen, W.-J., Kinch, J., Mana, R., Russell, B.C., Tully, D. & White, W.T. 2019. Checklist of the marine and estuarine fishes of New Ireland Province, Papua New Guinea, western Pacific Ocean, with 810 new records. Zootaxa 4588(1): 1-360 http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4588.1.1

Underkoffler, K.E., Luers, M.A., Hyde, J.R. & Craig, M.T. 2018. A taxonomic review of Lampris guttatus (Brünnich 1788) (Lampridiformes; Lampridae) with descriptions of three new species. Zootaxa 4413(3): 551–565 https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4413.3.9