Barred snailfish

Crystallias matsushimae

Fish
IUCN: Not evaluated

Usual depth0–416 m
Water temperature7–19 °C
Best monthsMay
How commonRare

About this species

Crystallias is a monospecific genus of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Liparidae. It only species, Crystallias matsushimae, the barred snailfish, is found in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, from the Sea of Japan and the Pacific coast of Honshu to the Bering Sea. It is found at depths of from 30 to 700 metres. This species can grows up to a length of 38 centimetres (15 in) TL.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Crystallias”, 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: 0 records
February: 1 records
March: 0 records
April: 0 records
May: 11 records
June: 2 records
July: 4 records
August: 3 records
September: 1 records
October: 3 records
November: 3 records
December: 0 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 0–416 m · Deepest record: 505.5 m

0–10 m: 3 records
10–20 m: 0 records
20–30 m: 0 records
30–40 m: 0 records
40–50 m: 0 records
50–60 m: 0 records
60–70 m: 0 records
70–80 m: 0 records
80–90 m: 0 records
90–100 m: 0 records
100–110 m: 1 records
110+ m: 23 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 7–19 °C

6–8 °C: 11 records
8–10 °C: 3 records
10–12 °C: 0 records
12–14 °C: 0 records
14–16 °C: 6 records
16–18 °C: 5 records
18–20 °C: 3 records

Names and classification

English: Barred snailfish, Bearded snailfish, Tiger Snailfish

Names in 2 more languages

Japanese: Abachan, アバチャン
Korean: 물미거지

Other scientific names: Crystallias kamoae, Crystallichthys matsushimae

Similar species

Pink snailfish
Careproctus rastrinus
Careproctus rotundifrons
Rough-body snailfish
Careproctus trachysoma
Blackfinned snailfish
Careproctus cypselurus
Careproctus marginatus
Blunt-tooth Snailfish
Careproctus paxtoni

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).
167 open-data records from 1906 to 2011.
Species data updated November 1, 2026.

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