Messmate

Echiodon cryomargarites

Fish
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth678–1,206 m
Water temperature0–19 °C
Best monthsMarch, May, and October
How commonRare

All species

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

Loading the map

Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 8 records
February: 10 records
March: 11 records
April: 3 records
May: 13 records
June: 5 records
July: 10 records
August: 1 records
September: 3 records
October: 13 records
November: 4 records
December: 8 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 678–1,206 m · Deepest record: 1,475 m

0–10 m: 1 records
10–20 m: 1 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: 0 records
110+ m: 374 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 0–19 °C

0–2 °C: 3 records
2–4 °C: 16 records
4–6 °C: 21 records
6–8 °C: 34 records
8–10 °C: 22 records
10–12 °C: 56 records
12–14 °C: 74 records
14–16 °C: 167 records
16–18 °C: 1 records
18–20 °C: 1 records

Names and classification

English: Messmate, messmate

Names in 2 more languages

French: Aurin ponctué
Japanese: コオリカクレウオ

Similar species

Closefin Pearlfish
Echiodon anchipterus
Messmate Fish
Echiodon rendahli
Star Pearlfish
Carapus mourlani
Pinhead Pearlfish
Encheliophis boraborensis
Graceful pearlfish
Encheliophis gracilis
Silver pearlfish
Encheliophis homei

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.
Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
397 open-data records from 1974 to 2019.
Species data updated November 2, 2026.

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