Flower of the Wave

Iso rhothophilus

Fish
IUCN: Not evaluated

Usual depth0–14 m
Water temperature16–29 °C
Best monthsJanuary, March, and May
How commonRare

All species

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

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

Loading the map

Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 14 records
February: 5 records
March: 13 records
April: 7 records
May: 18 records
June: 8 records
July: 3 records
August: 2 records
September: 4 records
October: 9 records
November: 6 records
December: 11 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 0–14 m · Deepest record: 14.5 m

0–10 m: 12 records
10–20 m: 2 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 16–29 °C

14–16 °C: 1 records
16–18 °C: 0 records
18–20 °C: 12 records
20–22 °C: 52 records
22–24 °C: 9 records
24–26 °C: 1 records
26–28 °C: 1 records
28–30 °C: 3 records

Photos

Names and classification

English: Flower of the Wave, Flower of the Waves, Surf-fish, Surf Fish, Surf Sardine

Names in 1 more languages

Simplified Chinese: 刀浪花魚, 沙丁魚, 澳洲浪花銀漢魚

Other scientific names: Tropidostethops rhothophilus, Tropidostethus rhothophilus

Similar species

Surf Sprite
Iso natalensis

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.
Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
126 open-data records from 1927 to 2015.
Species data updated November 3, 2026.

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