Average length 30-40 cmAverage weight1.5 kg
Orange body and fins; deep body, massive head with conspicuous bony ridges , and cavities. Scales small and irregular in shape and pattern, lateral line scales larger than body scales. A keel of larger scales on the belly.
Orange roughy is a deep- water species, irregular in distribution and abundance, very common in some areas on the Chatham Rise and Challenger Plateau, 700-1100 m. Caught by trawling all year round with low season March-May and highest catches August- October. Resource size very large.
The three related species occurring in New Zealand – pink finned, slender, and silver roughy – are small coastal species and non- commercial.
