Opah, Moonfish (but cf. page 97)

Family Lamprididae

• Portuguese: Peixe cravo
• Spanish: Luna real
• French: Poisson lune, Poisson royal
• Dutch: Koningsvis
• German: Gotteslachs
• Swedish: Glansfisk
• Norwegian: Laksestørje
• Danish: Glansfisk
• Icelandic: Guðlax
• Other: Sunfish, Jerusalem haddock

REMARKS Maximum length 180 cm (corresponding to a weight of 50 kilos). This beautiful fish is not uncommon in the central and southern parts of the Atlantic and may swim as far north as Iceland and Norway; but it is a rarity in the North Atlantic. There can surely have been only one occasion (Swindon, AD 1971) when a famous poet and a famous cook (Geoffrey and Jane Grigson) have entered a British fish shop and been confronted by a whole opah. For the resulting, lyrical description of the fish.