Bluenose

The bluenose, also called Antarctic butterfish, is a heavy-bodied, blunt-headed fish of a uniform slaty grey to charcoal, with soft flesh and a broad tail built for cruising midwater over deep ground. Juveniles shelter under floating weed and flotsam, while adults descend to the deep outer shelf and seamounts.

In South African waters it is a cold-water, deep-water species associated with the southern and Western Cape, usually caught by deep-drop and longline gear rather than encountered by divers. It is slow-growing and long-lived, which makes it vulnerable to sustained fishing pressure, so it is managed as a commercial deep-water resource.