Largehead hairtail (Trichiurus lepturus) is a saltwater, brackish species recorded in Hong Kong, Taiwan, United States. It is mainly found over mud, estuary, at depths of 0–589 m. The main season in Hong Kong, Taiwan, United States runs summer, autumn.
Scientific name: Trichiurus lepturus · Water: Saltwater, Brackish · Season: Summer, Autumn · Also known as: Largehead Hairtail
Size: 70–110 cm
The Largehead hairtail is a cutlassfish with an extremely elongated silvery-blue body, a long tapering tail without a true caudal fin, and a big mouth armed with fang-like teeth. Hong Kong calls it the toothbelt. Mainly a benthopelagic fish, it hugs the seabed by day and rises to the surface at night to feed on krill and small fish, so fishing after dark under lights works best. In season in summer and autumn, it typically runs 70 to 110 cm and can reach 234 cm, occurs from shallow estuary water down to 589 m, and IUCN lists it as Least Concern. Summer is the peak of Taiwan's boat fishery, with the richest catches off the north-east coast, and the flesh is meaty and low in bones. In the United States the western Atlantic stock ranges from Virginia south through the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean, while the eastern Pacific form runs from southern California to Peru; the Atlantic population is also called the Atlantic cutlassfish, and US markets sell it as ribbonfish or beltfish, with the season running from spring into summer and most fish taken at night under lights on a strip of fish, either on the bottom or slow-trolled.
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