Hector's Clingfish
Gastroscyphus hectoris
- Usual depth0–1 m
- Water temperature13–17 °C
- Best monthsApril
- How commonRare
Photo credit: (c) William Harland, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
About this species
Hector's clingfish is a clingfish of the family Gobiesocidae, the only species in the genus Gastroscyphus. It is found all down the east coast of New Zealand around the low water mark amongst seaweed, on rocky coastlines. Its length is up to 6.4 centimetres (2.5 in) SL. This species was described in 1876 by Albert Günther as Crepidogaster hectoris from a holotype collected on the south shore of the Cook Strait. Günther honoured the Scottish-born scientist James Hector (1834-1907) who was the Director of the Geological Survey of New Zealand and who presented type to the British Museum.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Hector's clingfish”, 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: 2 records
- February: 4 records
- March: 3 records
- April: 8 records
- May: 1 records
- June: 1 records
- July: 1 records
- August: 1 records
- September: 0 records
- October: 0 records
- November: 2 records
- December: 3 records
Depth and water temperature
Depth
Mostly recorded at 0–1 m · Deepest record: 1.2 m
Water temperature
Recorded in surface water of 13–17 °C
Photos
(c) naturewatchwidow, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Saryu Mae 前 朝琉, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Jacob Littlejohn, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist 
(c) Luca Davenport-Thomas, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) naturewatchwidow, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
Names and classification
- English
- Hector's Clingfish
Other scientific names: Crepidogaster hectoris
Similar species
Common Shore-eelAlabes dorsalis
Long-snout ClingfishDiademichthys lineatus
Pygmy Shore EelAlabes parvula
Broad ClingfishAspasmogaster costata
Western Cleaner ClingfishCochleoceps bicolor
Eastern Cleaner-clingfishCochleoceps orientalis
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).
- 25 open-data records from 1949 to 2011.
- Species data updated November 2, 2026.
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