Pink cusk-eel

Genypterus blacodes

Fish
IUCN: Vulnerable

Usual depth148–357 m
Water temperature7–21 °C
Best monthsFebruary and October
How commonCommon

Photo credit: (c) Richard Littauer, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

About this species

The pink cusk-eel, Genypterus blacodes, is a demersal species of cusk-eel in the family Ophidiidae found in the oceans around southern Australia, Chile, Brazil, and around New Zealand except the east coast of Northland, in depths of 22 to 1,000 metres. It is found in the Chilean Patagonia fjords, one of the least researched ocean regions in the world.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Pink cusk-eel”, 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: 281 records
February: 6,086 records
March: 848 records
April: 2,126 records
May: 1,793 records
June: 1,574 records
July: 2,227 records
August: 1,203 records
September: 2,072 records
October: 3,969 records
November: 2,337 records
December: 368 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 148–357 m · Deepest record: 3,821.5 m

0–10 m: 3 records
10–20 m: 9 records
20–30 m: 15 records
30–40 m: 19 records
40–50 m: 37 records
50–60 m: 40 records
60–70 m: 67 records
70–80 m: 53 records
80–90 m: 57 records
90–100 m: 46 records
100–110 m: 129 records
110+ m: 24,541 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 7–21 °C

6–8 °C: 641 records
8–10 °C: 224 records
10–12 °C: 23 records
12–14 °C: 40 records
14–16 °C: 18 records
16–18 °C: 6 records
18–20 °C: 5 records
20–22 °C: 2 records

Photos

(c) Penelope Noel Gillette, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) John Barkla, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
(c) Aalbert Rebergen, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Christopher Stephens, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
(c) Sebastian Doak, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Tony Wills, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Pink cusk-eel, Australian rockling, Banded Ling, Common Ling, Kingclip, Ling, pink cusk-eel, Pink Ling, Rock Ling

Names in 2 more languages

Spanish: Abadejo, Congrio Dorado, Maruca
Japanese: リング

Other scientific names: Genypterus australis, Genypterus microstomus, Ophidium blacodes

Similar species

Ling
Genypterus tigerinus
Blackedge cusk-eel
Lepophidium brevibarbe
Digitate Cusk Eel
Dicrolene introniger
Golden Cusk
Sirembo imberbis
armored weaselfish
Hoplobrotula armata
Alcock's Cusk-eel
Alcockia rostrata

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).
28,541 open-data records from 1900 to 2023.
Species data updated November 2, 2026.

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