Escolar

Lepidocybium flavobrunneum

Fish
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth20–200 m
Water temperature11–28 °C
Best monthsJanuary, February, and March
How commonCommon

About this species

The escolar is a species of scombriform ray-finned fish with a cosmopolitan distribution in tropical and temperate oceans at depths of 200 to 1,100 metres. Also known as snake mackerel or walu walu, it is the only member of the genus Lepidocybium and the family Lepidocybiidae.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Escolar”, 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: 2,808 records
February: 2,229 records
March: 2,242 records
April: 1,927 records
May: 2,079 records
June: 1,675 records
July: 1,818 records
August: 1,999 records
September: 1,677 records
October: 2,021 records
November: 2,008 records
December: 1,756 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 20–200 m · Deepest record: 2,760 m

0–10 m: 762 records
10–20 m: 1,010 records
20–30 m: 5,039 records
30–40 m: 5,905 records
40–50 m: 3,423 records
50–60 m: 519 records
60–70 m: 319 records
70–80 m: 293 records
80–90 m: 166 records
90–100 m: 259 records
100–110 m: 484 records
110+ m: 6,022 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 11–28 °C

10–12 °C: 4 records
12–14 °C: 2 records
14–16 °C: 12 records
16–18 °C: 15 records
18–20 °C: 7 records
20–22 °C: 3 records
22–24 °C: 6 records
24–26 °C: 250 records
26–28 °C: 489 records
28–30 °C: 24 records

Names and classification

English: Escolar, Black Oil-fish, Black Oilfish, "Butterfish", escolar

Names in 6 more languages

German: Butterfisch, Escolar-Schlangenmakrele
Spanish: Escolar, escolar negro, Escolar negro, Miramelindo, Mírame Lindo, petróleo, Pez Aceite
French: escolar, escolier noir, Escolier noir
Japanese: Aburasokomutsu, アブラソコムツ
Thai: ปลาทูน่าขาว
Simplified Chinese: 圓鱈, 油魚, 異鱗蛇鯖, 細鱗仔, 鱗網帶鰆

Other scientific names: Cybium flavobrunneum, Diplogonurus maderensis, Lepidosarda retigramma, Nesogrammus thompsoni, Xenogramma carinatum

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).
42,883 open-data records from 1963 to 2024.
Species data updated November 4, 2026.

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