Barred soapfish

Diploprion bifasciatus

Fish
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth10–59 m
Water temperature20–29 °C
Best monthsAugust, September, and October
How commonOccasional

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

About this species

Diploprion bifasciatum, the barred soapfish, also known as the double-banded soapfish, two banded grouper, two-banded sea perch, two-banded soapfish, yellow emperor or yellow striped grouper, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, related to the groupers and included in the subfamily Epinephelinae which is part of the family Serranidae, which also includes the anthias and sea basses. It is found in the Indo-Pacific region.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Diploprion bifasciatum”, 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: 118 records
February: 101 records
March: 102 records
April: 123 records
May: 116 records
June: 161 records
July: 126 records
August: 170 records
September: 173 records
October: 208 records
November: 120 records
December: 93 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 10–59 m · Deepest record: 128.5 m

0–10 m: 45 records
10–20 m: 37 records
20–30 m: 113 records
30–40 m: 116 records
40–50 m: 54 records
50–60 m: 40 records
60–70 m: 23 records
70–80 m: 9 records
80–90 m: 8 records
90–100 m: 0 records
100–110 m: 0 records
110+ m: 1 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 20–29 °C

20–22 °C: 4 records
22–24 °C: 33 records
24–26 °C: 69 records
26–28 °C: 168 records
28–30 °C: 40 records

Photos

(c) Piotr Lukasik, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) luluchouette, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Tim, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Nicola Crockford, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
(c) Ben Costamagna, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) portioid, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Barred soapfish, Two banded grouper, Two-banded perch, Two-banded sea perch, Two-banded soapfish, yellow emperor, Yellow striped grouper

Names in 2 more languages

French: Savon à deux bandes
Japanese: Kihassoku, キハッソク

Other scientific names: Diploprion bifasciatum

Similar species

Arrow-headed Soapfish
Belonoperca chabanaudi
Golden Ribbon Soapfish, Goldribbon soapfish
Aulacocephalus temminckii

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).
1,129 open-data records from 1900 to 2023.
Species data updated October 26, 2026.

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