Common Weedfish

Heteroclinus heptaeolus

Fish
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth1–7 m
Water temperature10–23 °C
Best monthsFebruary and March
How commonRare

Photo credit: (c) Christopher Mark, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

About this species

Heteroclinus heptaeolus, or Ogilby's weedfish, is a species of clinid native to the coast of southern Australia where it can be found in habitats with plentiful seaweed growth. This species can reach a maximum length of 10 centimetres (3.9 in) TL.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Heteroclinus heptaeolus”, 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: 18 records
February: 39 records
March: 51 records
April: 15 records
May: 7 records
June: 1 records
July: 5 records
August: 7 records
September: 2 records
October: 10 records
November: 14 records
December: 28 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 1–7 m · Deepest record: 9 m

0–10 m: 40 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 10–23 °C

8–10 °C: 1 records
10–12 °C: 0 records
12–14 °C: 4 records
14–16 °C: 88 records
16–18 °C: 34 records
18–20 °C: 27 records
20–22 °C: 30 records
22–24 °C: 2 records

Names and classification

English: Common Weedfish, Ogilby's Weedfish, Seven-bar Weedfish

Other scientific names: Heteroclinus heptaelous, Petraites heptaeolus

Similar species

Common Weedfish
Heteroclinus perspicillatus
Johnston's Weedfish
Heteroclinus johnstoni
Kuiters Weedfish
Heteroclinus kuiteri
Rosy weedfish
Heteroclinus roseus
Forster's Weedfish
Heteroclinus tristis
Whitelegg's Weedfish
Heteroclinus whiteleggii

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).
338 open-data records from 1879 to 2014.
Species data updated November 3, 2026.

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