Castanheta do alto
Madeiran name for two deep-water rocky-bottom fishes, Anthias sacer (imperador) and Callanthias peloritanus (imperador de natura), with notes on a forgotten nickname.
Madeirans apply this name to the following two fishes, both of the family Percidae: Anthias sacer and Callanthias peloritanus. They are caught on rocky bottoms between 60 and 150 braças, with the gorazeira (deep-water longline for sea bream) or the briqueira (a Madeiran hand line for bottom fishing), the latter species being much rarer than the former.
Anthias sacer is also known by the name imperador, and Calanthias peloritanus by that of imperador de natura. Some 60 years ago the latter species was also called castanheta or imperador da moda (‘fashionable emperor’), perhaps in allusion to the fashion for narrow waists among ladies, since this species is noticeably slenderer than the common imperador. Today, however, this name seems to be completely forgotten.