Sixblotch hind

Cephalopholis sexmaculata

Fish
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth10–30 m
Water temperature22–30 °C
Best monthsMarch, April, and September
How commonOccasional

Photo credit: no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist

About this species

Cephalopholis sexmaculata, sixblotch hind, freckled cod, freckled rock-cod, sixband cod, six-banded rockcod, sixband rockcod or sixspot rockcod is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a grouper of the family Epinephelidae. This fish occurs throughout the Indo-Pacific.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Cephalopholis sexmaculata”, 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: 22 records
February: 40 records
March: 60 records
April: 60 records
May: 57 records
June: 47 records
July: 39 records
August: 28 records
September: 60 records
October: 49 records
November: 48 records
December: 38 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 10–30 m · Deepest record: 280 m

0–10 m: 15 records
10–20 m: 70 records
20–30 m: 46 records
30–40 m: 19 records
40–50 m: 2 records
50–60 m: 0 records
60–70 m: 0 records
70–80 m: 0 records
80–90 m: 0 records
90–100 m: 1 records
100–110 m: 1 records
110+ m: 1 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 22–30 °C

20–22 °C: 1 records
22–24 °C: 3 records
24–26 °C: 8 records
26–28 °C: 104 records
28–30 °C: 83 records

Photos

(c) Rachel Crane, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) desertnaturalist, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Roger Rittmaster, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Jacek Pietruszewski, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Nicola Crockford, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Sixblotch hind, Sixspot grouper, freckled rockcod, Freckled Rock-cod, Saddled Rockcod, Six-banded Grouper, Sixblotch Grouper, Sixblotch hind, sixblotch hind, Six-blotch Hind, Six-blotch Rockcod, sixspot grouper, Six-spotted Rockcod

Names in 2 more languages

French: Loche sanguine, Merou Sanguin, Rouge L'Allie, Rouge l'allie, Rouge l'allié, Vielle six taches, Vieille six tâches, Vielle Six Taches
Japanese: Kokuhanhata, コクハンハタ

Other scientific names: Cephalopholis coatesi, Cephalopholis gibbus, Cephalopholis sexmaculatus, Epinephelus sexmaculatus, Serranus sexmaculatus, Serranus zanana

Similar species

Peacock grouper
Cephalopholis argus
Coral grouper
Cephalopholis miniata
Darkfin hind
Cephalopholis urodeta
Chocolate hind
Cephalopholis boenak
Bluespot Cod
Cephalopholis cyanostigma
Blue-lined grouper
Cephalopholis formosa

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).
419 open-data records from 1830 to 2023.
Species data updated October 26, 2026.

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