crested weedfish

Cristiceps australis

Fish
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth1–11 m
Water temperature14–22 °C
Best monthsMarch, September, and December
How commonOccasional

Photo credit: (c) Josh Nitschke, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

About this species

Cristiceps australis, the crested weedfish, is a species of clinid found around southern Australia in the subtidal zone from low water to depths of about 30 metres (98 ft) preferring areas with plentiful seaweed growth. This species can reach a length of 18 centimetres (7.1 in) TL.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Cristiceps australis”, 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: 86 records
February: 88 records
March: 133 records
April: 72 records
May: 23 records
June: 56 records
July: 21 records
August: 39 records
September: 94 records
October: 41 records
November: 68 records
December: 152 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 1–11 m · Deepest record: 55 m

0–10 m: 129 records
10–20 m: 10 records
20–30 m: 3 records
30–40 m: 1 records
40–50 m: 3 records
50–60 m: 1 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 14–22 °C

12–14 °C: 13 records
14–16 °C: 204 records
16–18 °C: 47 records
18–20 °C: 188 records
20–22 °C: 70 records
22–24 °C: 1 records

Photos

(c) Lawrence Hylton, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
(c) Belinda Forbes, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Lawrence Hylton, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Josh Nitschke, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Christopher Mark, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Christopher Mark, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: crested weedfish, Southern Crested Weedfish, Weed Fish

Other scientific names: Cristiceps axillaris, Cristiceps howittii, Cristiceps macleayi, Cristiceps pallidus, Cristiceps splendens

Similar species

crested weedfish
Cristiceps aurantiacus
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).
1,021 open-data records from 1886 to 2022.
Species data updated November 1, 2026.

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