Grooved razorfish

Centriscus scutatus

Fish
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth20–51 m
Water temperature15–29 °C
Best monthsAugust, September, and October
How commonOccasional

Photo credit: (c) Greg Tasney, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist

About this species

Centriscus scutatus is a slender fish that reaches a length of 15 cm (5.9 in). It is found at depth between 2 and 333 m in the Indian and Pacific oceans, from the Red Sea and Persian Gulf up to Japan, New Caledonia and Australia. This coastal species inhabits mud or silty sand next to sea grasses or corals. It swims almost vertically, sometimes in large groups, with head pointed downwards, and feeds on small crustaceans.

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

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

Loading the map

Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 24 records
February: 32 records
March: 20 records
April: 28 records
May: 21 records
June: 32 records
July: 36 records
August: 56 records
September: 88 records
October: 67 records
November: 34 records
December: 23 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 20–51 m · Deepest record: 333 m

0–10 m: 13 records
10–20 m: 12 records
20–30 m: 65 records
30–40 m: 89 records
40–50 m: 51 records
50–60 m: 21 records
60–70 m: 5 records
70–80 m: 1 records
80–90 m: 2 records
90–100 m: 1 records
100–110 m: 0 records
110+ m: 1 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 15–29 °C

14–16 °C: 1 records
16–18 °C: 0 records
18–20 °C: 0 records
20–22 °C: 0 records
22–24 °C: 10 records
24–26 °C: 10 records
26–28 °C: 146 records
28–30 °C: 46 records

Photos

Names and classification

English: Grooved razorfish, grooved razorfish, Grooved Razor-fish, Grooved razor-fish, Grooved shrimpfish, grooved shrimpfish, guttersnipefish, razorfish, rigid shrimpfish, sea snipe, serrate razorfish, shrimpfish, wafer

Names in 6 more languages

German: Rasiermesserfisch
Filipino: Isdang laring-laring, Isdang sikwan, Kutsi-kutsilyuhan, Punyal
French: Poisson-couteau rigide
Japanese: Yoroi-uo, Yoroiuo, ヨロイウオ
Thai: ปลาใบมีดโกนหัวร่อง
Simplified Chinese: 刀片魚, 玻璃魚, 玻甲魚, 玻甲鱼, 甲香魚, 虾鱼, 蝦魚

Other scientific names: Centricus scutatus, Centriscus capito

Similar species

Razorfish
Aeoliscus strigatus

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).
580 open-data records from 1758 to 2018.
Species data updated October 26, 2026.

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