Sargassumfish

Histrio histrio

Fish
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth1–1,920 m
Water temperature17–28 °C
Best monthsJune
How commonCommon

About this species

The sargassum fish, anglerfish, or frog fish is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Antennariidae, the frogfishes, the only species in the genus Histrio. It lives among Sargassum seaweed which floats in subtropical oceans. The scientific name comes from the Latin histrio meaning a stage player or actor and refers to the fish's feeding behaviour.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Sargassum fish”, 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: 14 records
February: 1,742 records
March: 25 records
April: 51 records
May: 241 records
June: 13,921 records
July: 27 records
August: 11 records
September: 3,542 records
October: 3,100 records
November: 6,330 records
December: 752 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 1–1,920 m · Deepest record: 4,572 m

0–10 m: 23 records
10–20 m: 3 records
20–30 m: 1 records
30–40 m: 0 records
40–50 m: 0 records
50–60 m: 0 records
60–70 m: 2 records
70–80 m: 1 records
80–90 m: 2 records
90–100 m: 2 records
100–110 m: 3 records
110+ m: 42 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 17–28 °C

16–18 °C: 3 records
18–20 °C: 0 records
20–22 °C: 136 records
22–24 °C: 832 records
24–26 °C: 19 records
26–28 °C: 1 records
28–30 °C: 2 records

Names and classification

English: Sargassumfish, Frogfish, Marbled Angler, Mouse Fish, Sargassum Angler, Sargassum Anglerfish, Sargassum-fish, Sargassum Fish, Sargassum Frogfish, Shaggy Angler

Names in 8 more languages

German: Sargassofisch
Spanish: Pez de los Sargazos, pez sargazo, Rana, Sapo
French: Antennaire des Sargasses, Antennaire des Sargasses, Baudroie, Poisson-pêcheur des Sargasses, Pêcheur des Sargasses, Baudroie, Pêcheur des Sargasses, Poisson-pêcheur des Sargasses, sargassier
Indonesian: Ikan Sargassum
Japanese: Hanaokoze, ハナオコゼ
Korean: 노랑씬벵이
Thai: ปลากบสาหร่าย
Simplified Chinese: 五腳虎, 裸躄魚

Other scientific names: Antenarius mesogallicus, Antennarius barbatulus, Antennarius gibbus, Antennarius histrio, Antennarius inops, Antennarius laevigatus, Antennarius lioderma, Antennarius nesogallicus, Antennarius nitidus, Antennarius raninus, Cheironectes laevigatus, Cheironectes pictus, Cheironectes raninus, Chironectes arcticus, Chironectes barbatulatus, Chironectes barbatulus, Chironectes gibbus, Chironectes histrio, Chironectes laevigatus, Chironectes nesogallicus, Chironectes pictus, Chironectes sonntagii, Chironectes sontagii, Chironectes tumidus, Chironectes variegatus, Historio gibbus, Histrio gibbus, Histrio jagua, Histrio pictus, Histrio raninus

Similar species

Freckled Anglerfish
Abantennarius coccineus
Black Angler
Antennarius commerson
Warty frogfish
Antennarius maculatus
Painted angler
Antennarius pictus
Striated frogfish
Antennarius striatus
Big-spot Angler
Abantennarius nummifer

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).
40,857 open-data records from 1758 to 2023.
Species data updated October 27, 2026.

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