Southern driftfish

Icichthys australis

Fish
IUCN: Not evaluated

Usual depth122–940 m
Water temperature-1–26 °C
Best monthsFebruary, July, and November
How commonOccasional

About this species

The southern driftfish or ragfish, Pseudoicichthys australis, is a species of medusafish. The Catalog of Fishes places it in the monospecific genus Pseudoicichthys, but as of 2024 FishBase retains it in the genus Icichthys together with I. lockingtoni. It is found around the world in all southern oceans between latitudes 50° S and 60° S, from the surface down to 2,000 m. Its length is from 35 to 80 cm.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Southern driftfish”, 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: 36 records
February: 204 records
March: 51 records
April: 35 records
May: 96 records
June: 95 records
July: 251 records
August: 3 records
September: 7 records
October: 43 records
November: 195 records
December: 22 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 122–940 m · Deepest record: 3,300 m

10–20 m: 6 records
20–30 m: 0 records
30–40 m: 1 records
40–50 m: 4 records
50–60 m: 19 records
60–70 m: 0 records
70–80 m: 1 records
80–90 m: 0 records
90–100 m: 2 records
100–110 m: 15 records
110–120 m: 36 records
120+ m: 984 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of -1–26 °C

-2–0 °C: 2 records
0–2 °C: 8 records
2–4 °C: 112 records
4–6 °C: 63 records
6–8 °C: 617 records
8–10 °C: 45 records
10–12 °C: 10 records
12–14 °C: 33 records
14–16 °C: 30 records
16–18 °C: 16 records
18–20 °C: 0 records
20–22 °C: 0 records
22–24 °C: 0 records
24–26 °C: 0 records
26–28 °C: 2 records

Names and classification

English: Southern driftfish, southern driftfish

Names in 1 more languages

French: Fiatole antarctique

Other scientific names: Pseudoicichthys australis

Similar species

Medusafish
Icichthys lockingtoni
Black fish
Centrolophus niger
Antarctic butterfish
Hyperoglyphe antarctica
Japanese butterfish
Hyperoglyphe japonica
Barrelfish
Hyperoglyphe perciformis

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).
1,190 open-data records from 1980 to 2023.
Species data updated November 3, 2026.

Log what you see on your next dive

The free DiveHive diver app keeps your logbook with every sighting and shows what lives at the site you dive next.

Join the waitlist