crested weedfish

Cristiceps aurantiacus

Fish
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth6–23 m
Water temperature15–23 °C
Best monthsFebruary, April, and May
How commonRare

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

About this species

Cristiceps aurantiacus is a species of clinid found around New South Wales, Australia and New Zealand. It lives in tide pools and the subtidal zone to a depth of 30 metres (98 ft). Its diet consists of crustaceans and small fishes. It can reach a length of 22 centimetres (8.7 in) TL.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Cristiceps aurantiacus”, 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: 29 records
February: 39 records
March: 35 records
April: 39 records
May: 37 records
June: 20 records
July: 20 records
August: 26 records
September: 18 records
October: 11 records
November: 21 records
December: 25 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 6–23 m · Deepest record: 26.5 m

0–10 m: 10 records
10–20 m: 27 records
20–30 m: 16 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 15–23 °C

14–16 °C: 7 records
16–18 °C: 15 records
18–20 °C: 24 records
20–22 °C: 110 records
22–24 °C: 15 records

Photos

(c) Shaun Lee, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Luca Davenport-Thomas, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
(c) Luca Davenport-Thomas, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
(c) naturewatchwidow, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: crested weedfish, Crested Weed-fish, Golden Weedfish, Yellow-crested Weedfish, Yellow Crested Weedfish

Other scientific names: Cristiceps pictus

Similar species

crested weedfish
Cristiceps australis
Crested Weedfish
Cristiceps argyropleura
Common Weedfish
Heteroclinus perspicillatus
Orange Clinid
Ericentrus rubrus
Common Weedfish
Heteroclinus heptaeolus
Johnston's Weedfish
Heteroclinus johnstoni

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).
245 open-data records from 1886 to 2014.
Species data updated November 1, 2026.

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