Japanese rubyfish

Erythrocles schlegelii

Fish
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth80–340 m
Water temperature12–29 °C
Best monthsSeptember
How commonRare

Photo credit: (c) Hamid Badar Osmany, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

About this species

The Japanese rubyfish also known as the Pacific rover or dusky rover, is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Emmelichthyidae, the rovers, bonnetmouths and rubyfishes. This fish is found in the Indian and western Pacific Oceans.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Japanese rubyfish”, 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: 2 records
February: 1 records
March: 2 records
April: 1 records
May: 1 records
June: 3 records
July: 7 records
August: 4 records
September: 14 records
October: 4 records
November: 3 records
December: 2 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 80–340 m · Deepest record: 405 m

20–30 m: 1 records
30–40 m: 0 records
40–50 m: 1 records
50–60 m: 0 records
60–70 m: 0 records
70–80 m: 1 records
80–90 m: 1 records
90–100 m: 0 records
100–110 m: 1 records
110–120 m: 1 records
120–130 m: 0 records
130+ m: 32 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 12–29 °C

10–12 °C: 1 records
12–14 °C: 2 records
14–16 °C: 4 records
16–18 °C: 10 records
18–20 °C: 0 records
20–22 °C: 7 records
22–24 °C: 6 records
24–26 °C: 6 records
26–28 °C: 16 records
28–30 °C: 7 records

Photos

(c) Hamid Badar Osmany, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Japanese rubyfish

Names in 1 more languages

Japanese: Hachibiki, ハチビキ

Other scientific names: Emmelichthys schlegelii, Erythrichthys schlegelii, Erythrocles schlegeli

Similar species

Golden kali kali
Erythrocles scintillans
Erythrocles taeniatus
bonnetmouth
Emmelichthys nitidus
Bonnetmouth
Emmelichthys struhsakeri

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).
118 open-data records from 1906 to 2016.
Species data updated November 2, 2026.

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