Big-eye

Epigonus lenimen

Fish
IUCN: Not evaluated

Usual depth460–1,105 m
Water temperature8–27 °C
Best monthsMarch, October, and December
How commonOccasional

About this species

The big-eyed cardinalfish or bigeye cardinalfish is a species of deepwater cardinalfish found in the southern Indian Ocean and southwestern Pacific Ocean from south of Madagascar to New Zealand. This fish occurs at depths from 530 to 820 m. This species can reach 21 centimetres (8.3 in) in total length.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Big-eyed cardinalfish”, 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: 3 records
February: 2 records
March: 13 records
April: 3 records
May: 1 records
June: 6 records
July: 7 records
August: 2 records
September: 1 records
October: 8 records
November: 1 records
December: 9 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 460–1,105 m · Deepest record: 1,480.5 m

30–40 m: 1 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
110–120 m: 0 records
120–130 m: 0 records
130–140 m: 1 records
140+ m: 1,412 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 8–27 °C

6–8 °C: 1 records
8–10 °C: 20 records
10–12 °C: 72 records
12–14 °C: 229 records
14–16 °C: 376 records
16–18 °C: 105 records
18–20 °C: 8 records
20–22 °C: 0 records
22–24 °C: 0 records
24–26 °C: 1 records
26–28 °C: 1 records

Names and classification

English: Big-eye, Big-eye Cardinal-fish, Bigeye Cardinalfish, Big-eyed Cardinalfish, Bigeye Deepsea Cardinalfish, Deepsea Big-eye

Other scientific names: Scepterias lenimen

Similar species

Pencil cardinal
Epigonus denticulatus
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).
1,449 open-data records from 1913 to 2018.
Species data updated November 2, 2026.

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