Brown Slickhead

Alepocephalus australis

Fish
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth928–1,285 m
Water temperature8–28 °C
Best monthsMay, August, and December
How commonOccasional

About this species

Alepoocephalus australis, the small scaled brown slickhead, is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Alepocephalidae, the slickheads. This is a deep water species found in the triopical and temperate waters around the world.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Alepocephalus australis”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

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Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 18 records
February: 7 records
March: 23 records
April: 10 records
May: 38 records
June: 14 records
July: 26 records
August: 37 records
September: 15 records
October: 17 records
November: 31 records
December: 32 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 928–1,285 m · Deepest record: 2,976 m

40–50 m: 1 records
50–60 m: 0 records
60–70 m: 0 records
70–80 m: 0 records
80–90 m: 0 records
90–100 m: 0 records
100–110 m: 0 records
110–120 m: 0 records
120–130 m: 0 records
130–140 m: 0 records
140–150 m: 0 records
150+ m: 3,763 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 8–28 °C

6–8 °C: 1 records
8–10 °C: 3 records
10–12 °C: 143 records
12–14 °C: 115 records
14–16 °C: 454 records
16–18 °C: 177 records
18–20 °C: 24 records
20–22 °C: 24 records
22–24 °C: 4 records
24–26 °C: 1 records
26–28 °C: 3 records
28–30 °C: 1 records

Names and classification

English: Brown Slickhead, Small Scaled Brown Slickhead, Smallscale Slickhead, Southern Atlantic Smooth-head

Names in 1 more languages

Japanese: Aramekon-nyakuiwashi, アラメコンニャクイワシ

Other scientific names: Alepocephalus barnardi

Similar species

Antipodean Slickhead
Alepocephalus antipodianus
Bicolor Slickhead
Alepocephalus bicolor
Blanford's naked head
Alepocephalus blanfordii
Longfin Slickhead
Alepocephalus longiceps
Longsnout Slickhead
Alepocephalus longirostris
Owston's Slickhead
Alepocephalus owstoni

Sources and credits

Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).

Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
3,893 open-data records from 1970 to 2025.

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