English Name: Royal escolar, Silver gemfish
Family: GEMPYLIDAE
Local Name: Lah katteihi
Order: Perciformes
Size: Max. 40cm (standard length)
Specimen: MRS/0071/86
Distinctive Characters: First dorsal fin with 18 spines. Second dorsal fin with I spine, 14-17 rays and 2 finlets. Anal fin with 2 spines (I free), 12-15 rays and 2 finlets. Pectoral fin with 13 rays. Double lateral line. Lateral line originating above upper angle of gill opening bifurcating below fifth dorsal spine or before it, the upper branch ending below middle of second dorsal fn base, the lower one slightly undulating along the posterior part of body.
Colour: Silvery brown. A black blotch on front of first dorsal fin.
Habitat and Biology: Oceanic and benthopelagic, but closer to the coasts than other Gempylids. Found at depths of 135 to 540 m. Feeds on a wide variety of fishes, crustaceans and cephalopods.
Distribution: All warm seas.
Remarks: Rexea prometheoides is a moderately deep water fish. This record is based on specimens caught in 200 m depth by bottom troll near the north of Baa Atoll by R.V. Dr. Fridtjof Nansen during its visit to Maldives in 1983.