Great northern tilefish (Lopholatilus chamaeleonticeps) is a saltwater species recorded in the United States. It is found at depths of 80–540 m.
Scientific name: Lopholatilus chamaeleonticeps · Water: Saltwater
Size: up to 125 cm
The great northern tilefish is a demersal latilid that is most common around 200 m, usually over mud or sand bottom and occasionally over rough bottom, recorded from 80 to 540 m, and it prefers a temperature of 8 to 17 degrees Celsius. It feeds mainly on shrimp and crabs, but also takes fish, squid, bivalves and holothurians. The species is sensitive to cold water: a mass die-off occurred in 1882, after which it was rare for decades, presumably because of unusually cold water. Its range is the western Atlantic, from Nova Scotia south along the United States, in the Gulf of Mexico from the Florida Keys and Tampa to the Texas-Mexico border, and off Mexico from Tabasco to the Yucatan Peninsula, and along South America from the Gulf of Cariaco in Venezuela to Suriname. Maximum length is about 125 cm total length, commonly about 90 cm, and it can live 35 years, maturing at about 42 cm. It is a commercial species and a gamefish, marketed fresh or frozen and suitable for steaming, pan-frying, broiling, microwaving and baking. Fishing vulnerability is high to very high at 73 of 100 and resilience low, the price category is very high, and climate vulnerability is moderate at 38 of 100. IUCN lists it as endangered.
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