Cosmopolitan Whipnose

Gigantactis vanhoeffeni

Fish
IUCN: Data deficient

Usual depth0–1,600 m
Water temperature0–27 °C
Best monthsJuly, August, and October
How commonRare

Photo credit: (c) Emőke Dénes, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist

About this species

The cosmopolitan whipnose is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Gigantactinidae, the whipnose anglers. This species has a circumglobal distribution in the deeper waters of the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Gigantactis vanhoeffeni”, 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: 1 records
March: 2 records
April: 1 records
May: 1 records
June: 2 records
July: 3 records
August: 3 records
September: 2 records
October: 4 records
November: 3 records
December: 0 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 0–1,600 m · Deepest record: 2,665 m

0–10 m: 6 records
10–20 m: 0 records
20–30 m: 0 records
30–40 m: 0 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+ m: 18 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 0–27 °C

0–2 °C: 3 records
2–4 °C: 0 records
4–6 °C: 2 records
6–8 °C: 1 records
8–10 °C: 1 records
10–12 °C: 8 records
12–14 °C: 2 records
14–16 °C: 1 records
16–18 °C: 4 records
18–20 °C: 0 records
20–22 °C: 1 records
22–24 °C: 1 records
24–26 °C: 2 records
26–28 °C: 2 records

Names and classification

English: Cosmopolitan Whipnose

Names in 2 more languages

Japanese: Shidaanko, シダアンコウ
Simplified Chinese: 梵氏巨棘鮟鱇, 深海鮟鱇

Other scientific names: Gigantactis exodon

Similar species

Candle whipnose
Gigantactis elsmani
Paxton's Whipnose
Gigantactis paxtoni

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).
132 open-data records from 1968 to 2009.
Species data updated November 2, 2026.

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