Great flashlightfish

Anomalops katoptron

Fish
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth6–329 m
Water temperature24–30 °C
Best monthsApril and November
How commonRare

Photo credit: (c) Robin van der Vliet, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist

About this species

The splitfin flashlightfish or two-fin flashlightfish is a species of schooling reef fish in the family Anomalopidae. It is found in warm waters in the central and western Pacific Ocean near reefs 200–400 m (660–1,300 ft) in depth. It can grow to a length of 35 cm (14 in) TL. It is the only known member of the genus Anomalops. It is listed under the IUCN as a species of least concern.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Splitfin flashlightfish”, 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: 0 records
February: 0 records
March: 4 records
April: 9 records
May: 1 records
June: 2 records
July: 0 records
August: 2 records
September: 0 records
October: 1 records
November: 7 records
December: 1 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 6–329 m · Deepest record: 365.8 m

0–10 m: 2 records
10–20 m: 3 records
20–30 m: 0 records
30–40 m: 1 records
40–50 m: 0 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+ m: 5 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 24–30 °C

22–24 °C: 2 records
24–26 °C: 2 records
26–28 °C: 9 records
28–30 °C: 24 records

Names and classification

English: Great flashlightfish, Indian flashlightfish, Lantern eye fish, Splitfin flashlightfish, Two-fin Flashlightfish, Twofin Flashlightfish

Names in 4 more languages

Spanish: Ojo de linterna indio
Japanese: Hikarikimmedai, ヒカリキンメダイ
Thai: ปลาตาเรืองแสง
Simplified Chinese: 菲律賓燈頰鯛, 閃光魚

Other scientific names: Anamalops katoptron, Anamolops katoptron, Anomalops graeffei, Anomalops kaptoptron, Heterophthalmus katoptron

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).
63 open-data records from 1969 to 2006.
Species data updated October 26, 2026.

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