Fish of the Centrolophus genus of the Centrolophidae (medusafishes) family of the Stromateoidei suborder of the Scombriformes order of the Percomorpha clade of the Acanthopterygii superorder.
(Black ruff. Photo © Ichthyology Database of the Swedish Museum of Natural History. artedi.nrm.se)
Black ruff (Centrolophus niger) was first described in 1789 by the German doctor, botanist, and chemist Johann Friedrich Gmelin (1748-1804).
It is a pelagic species, can be grouped into small schools. It inhabits the depth of 40-1050 meters, usually 300-700 meters. The maximum recorded length is 150 cm, specimens up to 60 cm long are more common. It feeds on small fish, squid, crustaceans, and zooplankton.
(Black ruff. Photo by © Antonio Colacino. fishbase.org)
It is a permanent infrequent inhabitant of the Adriatic Sea.
Names of black ruff (Centrolophus niger) in other languages as follows:
Murroku (Albanian), Zwarte vis (Dutch), Μαυρόψαρο (Mavropsaro) (Greek), Romerillo (Spanish), Ricciola di fondale (Italian), Schwarzfisch (German), Pompil, Pompil czarny (Polish), Liro-preto (Portuguese), Чёрный центролоф (Chjornyj centrolof) (Russian), Pastir šiljoglavac (Serbian, Croatian), Črnuh (Slovenian), Karabalik (Turkish), Centrolophe noir (French).