Spotted coral croucher
Caracanthus maculatus
- Usual depth3–18 m
- Water temperature22–30 °C
- Best monthsJuly and August
- How commonOccasional
Photo credit: (c) Debra Baker, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
Where and when
Where it has been recorded
Worldwide
Loading the map
Best months
Worldwide (open data)
- January: 19 records
- February: 54 records
- March: 38 records
- April: 29 records
- May: 39 records
- June: 47 records
- July: 104 records
- August: 64 records
- September: 41 records
- October: 16 records
- November: 14 records
- December: 5 records
Depth and water temperature
Depth
Mostly recorded at 3–18 m · Deepest record: 31.7 m
Water temperature
Recorded in surface water of 22–30 °C
Photos
(c) jeyre, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Debra Baker, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
Names and classification
- English
- Spotted coral croucher, Scarlet-spotted Velvetfish, spotted coral croucher, Spotted Coral Croucher, spotted croucher, Velvet Fish
Names in 3 more languages
- French
- Poisson-velours tacheté
- Japanese
- Dangokoze, ダンゴオコゼ
- Simplified Chinese
- 斑點頭棘鮋, 斑點頰棘鮋, 虎魚
Other scientific names: Micropus maculatus
Similar species
Pygmy coral croucherCaracanthus unipinna
LionfishPterois volitans
Zebra turkeyfishDendrochirus zebra
Guam scorpionfishScorpaenodes guamensis
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.
- Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
- 910 open-data records from 1831 to 2023.
- Species data updated October 26, 2026.
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