Skip to content

DiscoverSpeciesFish

Ereunias grallator

  • Fish
  • IUCN: Not evaluated
  • Usual depth350–565 m
  • Water temperature20–27 °C
  • Best monthsMarch, October, and November
  • How commonRare
All species

About this species

Ereunias is a monotypic genus of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Rhamphocottidae, the grunt sculpins. Its only species is Ereunias grallator which is a bathydemersal species found at depths of around 500 m (1,600 ft) in the northwestern Pacific Ocean off Japan. This species attains a maximum published total length of 30 cm (12 in). This species was first formally described in 1901 by the American ichthyologists David Starr Jordan and John Otterbein Snyder from Misaki, Sagami in Japan. Jordan and Snyder proposed the new genus Ereunias for the new species. The genus name is derived from ereunao, meaning "to explore" which may refer how it uses elongated pectoral-fin rays as feelers or "feet" to explore the substrate; suffixed with ias which is used in some Greek names for fishes. The specific name grallator is "stiltwalker" in Latin and is an allusion to the elongated pectoral fin rays. Along with the genus Marukawichthys this taxon was classified in the family Ereunidae but this was synonymised with the Rhamphocottidae in 2014.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Ereunias”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

Loading the map

Best months

Worldwide (open data)

  • January: 1 records
  • February: 0 records
  • March: 6 records
  • April: 0 records
  • May: 1 records
  • June: 1 records
  • July: 0 records
  • August: 0 records
  • September: 0 records
  • October: 4 records
  • November: 5 records
  • December: 3 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 350–565 m · Deepest record: 725 m

  • 220–230 m: 1 records
  • 230–240 m: 0 records
  • 240–250 m: 0 records
  • 250–260 m: 0 records
  • 260–270 m: 0 records
  • 270–280 m: 0 records
  • 280–290 m: 0 records
  • 290–300 m: 0 records
  • 300–310 m: 0 records
  • 310–320 m: 0 records
  • 320–330 m: 0 records
  • 330+ m: 19 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 20–27 °C

  • 18–20 °C: 1 records
  • 20–22 °C: 10 records
  • 22–24 °C: 6 records
  • 24–26 °C: 0 records
  • 26–28 °C: 4 records

Names and classification

Names in 2 more languages
Japanese
Torikajika, トリカジカ
Simplified Chinese
冰魚, 杜父魚, 神奈川旋杜父魚

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).
  • 28 open-data records from 1902 to 2003.
  • Species data updated November 2, 2026.

Log what you see on your next dive

The free DiveHive diver app keeps your logbook with every sighting and shows what lives at the site you dive next.

Join the waitlist

DiveHive uses necessary cookies to work. With your permission we also use analytics to see which pages help. Analytics is off until you say yes, and we never record what you type.

  • NecessaryAlways on: your choice, security.Always on
  • AnalyticsOff unless you accept.Off
Privacy policy