Fish of the Lepidopus genus of the Lepidopodinae subfamily of the Trichiuridae (cutlassfishes) family of the Scombroidei suborder of the Scombriformes order of the Percomorpha clade of the Acanthopterygii superorder.
(Silver scabbardfish. Photo by © Nansen Cruise. wwf.org.za)
Silver scabbardfish (Lepidopus caudatus) was first described in 1788 by the Swedish botanist Bengt Anders Euphrasén (1756-1796).
It is a bottom pelagic schooling species. It inhabits the depth of 40-620 meters, usually 100-300 meters. It dwells near a sandy and silty bottom. The maximum recorded length is 210 cm, specimens up to 120 cm long are more common. The maximum weight is 8 kilograms. At night, it can migrate closer to the surface, sometimes fish approaches the shores of the sea. It feeds on crustaceans, squids, and fish.
(Silver scabbardfish. Photo by © Pedro Niny Duarte(c)ImagDOP. fishbase.org)
It is a permanent rare inhabitant of the Adriatic Sea.
Names of silver scabbardfish (Lepidopus caudatus) in other languages as follows:
Jatagani i argjentë (Albanian), Kousebandvis (Dutch), Σπαθόψαρο (Spafopsaro) (Greek), Pez cinto (Spanish), Pesce sciabola (Italian), Strumpfbandfisch (German), Pałasz ogoniasty (Polish), Espada branca (Portuguese), Хвостатая рыба–сабля (Hvostataja ryba–sablja) (Russian), Zmijičnjak repaš (Serbian, Croatian), Morski meč (Slovenian), Sabre argenté (French).