bonnetmouth

Emmelichthys nitidus

Fish
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth73–394 m
Water temperature9–27 °C
Best monthsJanuary
How commonOccasional

About this species

Emmelichthys nitidus, the Cape bonnetmouth, bonnetmouth, redbait, pearl fish, picarel, red baitfish, red herring or Southern rover, is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Emmelichthyidae, the rovers and bonnetmouths. This species is found in the Indian and Pacific oceans. This species is of minor importance to commercial fisheries.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Emmelichthys nitidus”, 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: 469 records
February: 229 records
March: 9 records
April: 29 records
May: 69 records
June: 52 records
July: 198 records
August: 163 records
September: 153 records
October: 57 records
November: 15 records
December: 65 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 73–394 m · Deepest record: 1,125 m

0–10 m: 2 records
10–20 m: 4 records
20–30 m: 7 records
30–40 m: 57 records
40–50 m: 21 records
50–60 m: 23 records
60–70 m: 76 records
70–80 m: 100 records
80–90 m: 61 records
90–100 m: 37 records
100–110 m: 41 records
110+ m: 1,966 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 9–27 °C

8–10 °C: 5 records
10–12 °C: 28 records
12–14 °C: 150 records
14–16 °C: 196 records
16–18 °C: 279 records
18–20 °C: 62 records
20–22 °C: 3 records
22–24 °C: 6 records
24–26 °C: 0 records
26–28 °C: 2 records

Names and classification

English: bonnetmouth, Cape bonnetmouth, Pearl Fish, Picarel, Redbait, Red Baitfish, Red Herring, Southern Rover

Names in 3 more languages

Spanish: Andorrero del Cabo
French: Andorrève du Cap
Japanese: ホソチビキ

Similar species

Bonnetmouth
Emmelichthys struhsakeri
Japanese rubyfish
Erythrocles schlegelii
Golden kali kali
Erythrocles scintillans
Erythrocles taeniatus

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).
3,034 open-data records from 1910 to 2018.
Species data updated November 2, 2026.

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