Warming's lantern fish

Ceratoscopelus warmingii

Fish
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth67–1,463 m
Water temperature11–30 °C
Best monthsSeptember and November
How commonCommon

Photo credit: (c) Dr Tony Ayling, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist

About this species

Warming's lantern fish, Ceratoscopelus warmingii, is a lanternfish of the family Myctophidae, found circumglobally in both hemispheres, at depths of between 700 and 1,500 m during the day and between 20 and 200 m at night. Its length is about 8 cm (3.15 in).

Text from the Wikipedia article “Warming's lantern fish”, 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: 48 records
February: 240 records
March: 138 records
April: 108 records
May: 104 records
June: 183 records
July: 154 records
August: 151 records
September: 416 records
October: 195 records
November: 354 records
December: 190 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 67–1,463 m · Deepest record: 5,141 m

0–10 m: 14 records
10–20 m: 6 records
20–30 m: 12 records
30–40 m: 27 records
40–50 m: 29 records
50–60 m: 53 records
60–70 m: 54 records
70–80 m: 58 records
80–90 m: 20 records
90–100 m: 40 records
100–110 m: 35 records
110+ m: 1,539 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 11–30 °C

10–12 °C: 3 records
12–14 °C: 9 records
14–16 °C: 5 records
16–18 °C: 23 records
18–20 °C: 18 records
20–22 °C: 36 records
22–24 °C: 107 records
24–26 °C: 57 records
26–28 °C: 63 records
28–30 °C: 42 records

Names and classification

English: Warming's lantern fish, Warming's lanternfish, Warming’s lanternfish

Names in 2 more languages

Spanish: pez linterna mayor
Japanese: ゴコウハダカ

Other scientific names: Ceratoscopelus warmingi, Lampanyctus polyphotis, Lampanyctus townsendi, Lampanyctus warmingii, Myctophum warmingii, Scopelus warmingii

Similar species

Spinycheek lanternfish
Benthosema fibulatum
Dasyscopelus obtusirostris
Spiny lantern fish
Dasyscopelus spinosus
Garman’s lanternfish
Diaphus garmani
Diaphus lucidus
Malayan Lanternfish
Diaphus malayanus

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).
6,186 open-data records from 1925 to 2023.
Species data updated October 26, 2026.

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