Golden hind

Cephalopholis aurantia

Fish
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth5–84 m
Water temperature24–30 °C
Best monthsMay and October
How commonRare

Photo credit: no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist

About this species

Cephalopholis aurantia, the golden hind, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a grouper from the subfamily Epinephelinae. This rarely encountered species lives on steep seaward reefs of the Indo-Pacific.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Cephalopholis aurantia”, 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: 3 records
February: 0 records
March: 1 records
April: 3 records
May: 7 records
June: 4 records
July: 1 records
August: 2 records
September: 1 records
October: 5 records
November: 4 records
December: 0 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 5–84 m · Deepest record: 90 m

0–10 m: 2 records
10–20 m: 3 records
20–30 m: 2 records
30–40 m: 2 records
40–50 m: 2 records
50–60 m: 2 records
60–70 m: 1 records
70–80 m: 0 records
80–90 m: 1 records
90–100 m: 1 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 24–30 °C

24–26 °C: 4 records
26–28 °C: 16 records
28–30 °C: 17 records

Names and classification

English: Golden hind, Golden Grouper, Golden hind, golden hind, Golden Rockcod, Orange Cod, orange rockcod

Names in 3 more languages

Spanish: Cherna Dorada
French: Ananas bâtard, Cuisinier, Peau dure, Rouge bâtard, Rouge peau dure, Cuisinier, Maconde, Mamam Rouge, Mérou doré, Rouge Batard, Rouge Peau Dure, Vieille Doree, Vieille dorée
Japanese: Hanahata, ハナハタ

Other scientific names: Bodianus indelebilis, Cephalopholis analis, Cephalopholis aurantius, Cephalopholis indelibilis, Cephalopholis obtusauris, Cephalopholis obtusaurus, Epinephelus analis, Epinephelus aurantius, Epinephelus miltostigma, Serranus analis, Serranus aurantius, Serranus rufus

Similar species

Peacock grouper
Cephalopholis argus
Coral grouper
Cephalopholis miniata
Darkfin hind
Cephalopholis urodeta
Chocolate hind
Cephalopholis boenak
Bluespot Cod
Cephalopholis cyanostigma
Leopard hind
Cephalopholis leopardus

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).
115 open-data records from 1828 to 2016.
Species data updated October 26, 2026.

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