Western roughy (Hoplostethus occidentalis)

Description: Closely related to the commercially important orange roughy, this small roughy is abundant but isn’t popular on your dinner plate because it’s difficult to capture on its deep reef habitat. The western roughy eats small crustaceans and probably migrates up into the water column at night to feed like many other roughies.

Geographic Distribution

Figure 1: Relative probability of occurrence of Western roughy (Hoplostethus occidentalis) based on computer generated distribution maps. Data source: Aquamaps

Figure 2: Approximate depth range of Western roughy (black box). Slope of seafloor is a generalized representation of the Gulf of Mexico shelf and outer continental shelf.