gulf butterfish
Peprilus burti
Silvery fish in loose schools on the Gulf of Mexico shelf, highly valued as food and caught with trawl nets.
Also called: peixe-manteiga-do-golfo, palometa del golfo, gulf butterfish
- maximum
- 25 cm
- depth
- 155–225 m
who is the gulf butterfish
Fish of the family Stromateidae, with an oval, tall and very compressed body, reaching 25 cm. It forms loose schools over the continental shelf, on sand and mud bottoms. It stays near the bottom during the day and rises into midwater at night. Adults eat jellyfish, small fish, crustaceans and worms, and juveniles feed on plankton and jellyfish. It occurs in the Gulf of Mexico, from the Tampa region in Florida to Yucatán, Mexico. It is highly valued as food and is mainly caught with trawl nets.
Essential profile. Identification, where it occurs and rules, with data from FishBase and the cited regulations. Season, time of day, technique and bait are added once we have a good source for the gulf butterfish.
fun facts
- Juveniles are found under floating algae and alongside jellyfish.
identification
Oval, tall and very compressed body, light blue on the back and silvery below, without spots; the silvery color fades after death. The mouth is small, with a short, rounded snout, and the lower jaw slightly overhangs the upper. The dorsal and anal fins are long, almost the same size, and the pectoral fins are longer than the head and pointed. It has no pelvic fins, and the caudal fin is deeply forked.
Loading the next 7 days…
Each card shows the day's index (0 to 100) and, below it, a strip with the index for each hour, from 0h to 23h. from poor to excellent.
Essential profile: the index uses a general fish model (weather, sun, moon and tide), without a season or time of day specific to this species.
where found
In Latin America it occurs only in Mexico, in the Gulf of Mexico, in shelf waters.
Habitat: Sand and mud bottoms of the continental shelf, 2 to 275 m, most abundant between 155 and 225 m.
rules for the gulf butterfish
Summary of the regulations we found, with the source for each. Rules change; before keeping or transporting fish, check with the state environmental agency.
We found no species-specific rule beyond the region's general rules.
catch and release
catch and release Releasing the fish alive, quickly and with a wet hand. During a closed season it isn't always allowed: what the regulation says applies.
No danger to anglers. It is mainly caught with trawl nets, and rarely with a rod.
in the kitchen
Highly valued as food, sold fresh and frozen.
how much it weighs without taking it out of the water
Length-weight relationship W = a·Lb (a = 0.0138, b = 3.01; FishBase (relação peso-comprimento bayesiana, estimativa da própria espécie)). It's an average: a fat or lean fish can vary by 10% to 20%.
estimated weight
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sources and references
Essential profile: size, length-weight, depth, countries and conservation come from FishBase and the cited regulations, and the texts were written from those sources. Season, time of day, sensitivities, technique and baits and lures are not included yet, because we did not find a good source for this species.
- scientific FishBase: Peprilus burti (ficha da espécie)Size, length-weight, depth, habitat, distribution, biology, and IUCN status. Page checked on Oct 13, 2026.
- scientific FishBase: nomes populares de Peprilus burtiNames by country and language.