Electric lantern fish

Electrona risso

Fish
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth150–1,070 m
Water temperature8–29 °C
Best monthsApril, May, and June
How commonOccasional

Photo credit: (c) vtzanatos, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist

About this species

Electrona risso is a species of myctophiform ray-finned fish in the family Myctophidae, the lanternfishes. It is known commonly as the electric lantern fish, chubby flashlight fish, and Risso's lantern-fish. It is a widespread species of all the oceans.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Electrona risso”, 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: 91 records
February: 64 records
March: 31 records
April: 111 records
May: 95 records
June: 98 records
July: 76 records
August: 45 records
September: 45 records
October: 41 records
November: 42 records
December: 22 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 150–1,070 m · Deepest record: 3,050 m

0–10 m: 10 records
10–20 m: 1 records
20–30 m: 0 records
30–40 m: 0 records
40–50 m: 1 records
50–60 m: 3 records
60–70 m: 1 records
70–80 m: 4 records
80–90 m: 1 records
90–100 m: 0 records
100–110 m: 7 records
110+ m: 383 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 8–29 °C

8–10 °C: 3 records
10–12 °C: 24 records
12–14 °C: 41 records
14–16 °C: 95 records
16–18 °C: 201 records
18–20 °C: 88 records
20–22 °C: 34 records
22–24 °C: 12 records
24–26 °C: 15 records
26–28 °C: 15 records
28–30 °C: 1 records

Names and classification

English: Electric lantern fish, Chubby Flashlightfish, Chubby Flashlight Fish, Electric lanternfish, Chubby flashlightfish, Lanternfish, Risso's Lantern-fish, Risso's Lanternfish

Names in 3 more languages

Spanish: Chispa
French: Etincelle, Étincelle
Japanese: Darumahadaka, ダルマハダカ

Other scientific names: Electrona rissoi, Myctophum risso, Myctophum rissoi, Scopelus risso, Scopelus rissoi

Similar species

Carlsberg's Lanternfish
Electrona carlsbergi
Rough lanternfish
Electrona subaspera
Belted lanternfish
Electrona paucirastra
Warming's lantern fish
Ceratoscopelus warmingii
Dogtooth lampfish
Ceratoscopelus townsendi
Atlantic Lanternfish
Diogenichthys atlanticus

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).
1,199 open-data records from 1926 to 2023.
Species data updated November 2, 2026.

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