Pencil cardinal

Epigonus denticulatus

Fish
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth305–641 m
Water temperature7–28 °C
Best monthsMay
How commonOccasional

About this species

The pencil cardinalfish is a species of deepwater cardinalfish found around the world at depths of 130 to 830 m. This fish can reach up to 20 cm (7.9 in) in TL.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Pencil cardinal”, 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: 27 records
February: 31 records
March: 20 records
April: 61 records
May: 342 records
June: 106 records
July: 56 records
August: 64 records
September: 30 records
October: 28 records
November: 26 records
December: 39 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 305–641 m · Deepest record: 1,054 m

0–10 m: 1 records
10–20 m: 0 records
20–30 m: 0 records
30–40 m: 0 records
40–50 m: 2 records
50–60 m: 0 records
60–70 m: 5 records
70–80 m: 0 records
80–90 m: 0 records
90–100 m: 1 records
100–110 m: 0 records
110+ m: 855 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 7–28 °C

6–8 °C: 1 records
8–10 °C: 0 records
10–12 °C: 11 records
12–14 °C: 38 records
14–16 °C: 35 records
16–18 °C: 108 records
18–20 °C: 407 records
20–22 °C: 103 records
22–24 °C: 8 records
24–26 °C: 6 records
26–28 °C: 1 records
28–30 °C: 1 records

Names and classification

English: Pencil cardinal, White cardinalfish, Bigeye, Gobbleguts, pencil cardinal, White cardinal fish, White Deepsea Cardinalfish

Names in 3 more languages

French: Sonneur nain
Japanese: Hage-yasemutsu, Hageyasemutsu, ハゲヤセムツ
Simplified Chinese: 大目側仔, 大面側仔, 細身後竺鯛, 細身深海天竺鯛

Similar species

Big-eye
Epigonus lenimen
bigeye cardinalfish
Epigonus robustus
Bulls-eye
Epigonus telescopus
Big-eyed slender cardinal fish
Epigonus atherinoides
Epigonus bispinosus
Epigonus devaneyi

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).
971 open-data records from 1914 to 2022.
Species data updated November 2, 2026.

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