Veiled anglemouth

Cyclothone microdon

Fish
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth409–1,800 m
Water temperature-2–29 °C
Best monthsApril, May, and June
How commonOccasional

About this species

The veiled anglemouth is a bristlemouth of the family Gonostomatidae, abundant in all the world's oceans at depths of 300–2,500 meters. Its length is 10–15 cm (4–6 in) though the largest known specimen is 7.6 cm (3.0 in). It gets its name from its circular mouth, filled with small teeth: the name "cyclothone" means in a circle or around and "microdon" means small teeth. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has assessed the veiled anglemouth is of Least Concern due to its abundance in most oceans and the little effect human impact has on its population growth. Some of the veiled anglemouth's physical features include a brown to black body with a radiating, or expansive, bioluminescent pigment over its head and fins.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Veiled anglemouth”, 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: 72 records
February: 110 records
March: 53 records
April: 173 records
May: 164 records
June: 198 records
July: 126 records
August: 137 records
September: 45 records
October: 98 records
November: 93 records
December: 50 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 409–1,800 m · Deepest record: 9,158 m

0–10 m: 25 records
10–20 m: 4 records
20–30 m: 0 records
30–40 m: 1 records
40–50 m: 0 records
50–60 m: 0 records
60–70 m: 0 records
70–80 m: 1 records
80–90 m: 2 records
90–100 m: 5 records
100–110 m: 6 records
110+ m: 1,215 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of -2–29 °C

-2–0 °C: 50 records
0–2 °C: 25 records
2–4 °C: 7 records
4–6 °C: 12 records
6–8 °C: 58 records
8–10 °C: 63 records
10–12 °C: 73 records
12–14 °C: 30 records
14–16 °C: 34 records
16–18 °C: 58 records
18–20 °C: 28 records
20–22 °C: 41 records
22–24 °C: 33 records
24–26 °C: 7 records
26–28 °C: 6 records
28–30 °C: 2 records

Names and classification

English: Veiled anglemouth, Bristlemouth, Scaled Eye-nosed Fish, Smalltooth Bristlemouth, Small-Toothed Bristlemouth, Small-toothed Lantern-fish, Small-toothed Lantern Fish, Small-toothed Portholefish, veiled anglemouth, veiled bristlemouth

Names in 1 more languages

French: cyclothone à petites dents, Cyclothone brun, Cyclothone Jaune, Cyclothone microdon

Other scientific names: Gonostoma microdon

Similar species

Showy bristlemouth
Cyclothone signata
Benttooth bristlemouth
Cyclothone acclinidens
Albino anglemouth
Cyclothone alba
Deep-water bristlemouth
Cyclothone atraria
Spottail anglemouth
Cyclothone braueri
Bicolored bristlemouth
Cyclothone pallida

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).
2,582 open-data records from 1878 to 2025.
Species data updated November 1, 2026.

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