Pelican flounder

Chascanopsetta lugubris

Fish
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth271–550 m
Water temperature16–30 °C
Best monthsAugust, September, and November
How commonOccasional

About this species

Chascanopsetta is a genus of flatfish in the family Bothidae found in deeper parts of the Pacific and Indian Oceans with a single species, C. lugubris also occurring in the Atlantic Ocean. It contains ten member species.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Chascanopsetta”, 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: 12 records
February: 21 records
March: 25 records
April: 30 records
May: 33 records
June: 32 records
July: 29 records
August: 46 records
September: 42 records
October: 31 records
November: 44 records
December: 22 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 271–550 m · Deepest record: 1,023 m

20–30 m: 1 records
30–40 m: 1 records
40–50 m: 2 records
50–60 m: 0 records
60–70 m: 0 records
70–80 m: 1 records
80–90 m: 1 records
90–100 m: 0 records
100–110 m: 0 records
110–120 m: 0 records
120–130 m: 0 records
130+ m: 288 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 16–30 °C

14–16 °C: 1 records
16–18 °C: 7 records
18–20 °C: 16 records
20–22 °C: 78 records
22–24 °C: 31 records
24–26 °C: 45 records
26–28 °C: 64 records
28–30 °C: 46 records

Names and classification

English: Pelican flounder, pelican flounder

Names in 5 more languages

Spanish: Lenguado pelicano, lenguado pelícano
French: Perpeire pelican, Perpeire pélican, Perpeire pélican, Rombou pélican, Rombou pélican
Japanese: ザラガレイ
Thai: ปลาลิ้นควายทะเลลึก
Simplified Chinese: 半邊魚, 大口長頜鮃, 扁魚, 比目魚, 皇帝魚

Other scientific names: Chascanopsetta blumenalia, Chascanopsetta galatheae, Chascanopsetta gilchristi, Chascanopsetta maculata, Chascanopsetta microstoma, Chascanopsetta raptator, Trachypterophrys raptator

Similar species

Tropical flounder
Bothus mancus
Leopard flounder
Bothus pantherinus
Largescale flounder
Engyprosopon grandisquama
Engyprosopon maldivense
Brown Flounder
Arnoglossus aspilos
Brown Lefteye Flounder
Arnoglossus brunneus

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).
640 open-data records from 1894 to 2025.
Species data updated October 26, 2026.

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