Australian spiny gurnard

Lepidotrigla papilio

Fish
IUCN: Not evaluated

Usual depth31–66 m
Water temperature14–27 °C
Best monthsMarch, October, and November
How commonOccasional

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

About this species

Lepidotrigla papilio, the spiny gurnard, butterfly gurnard, Eastern spiny gurnard or Southern spiny gurnard. is a species of demersal marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Triglidae, the gurnards and sea robins. This species is endemic to Australia.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Lepidotrigla papilio”, 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: 40 records
February: 62 records
March: 98 records
April: 58 records
May: 90 records
June: 42 records
July: 40 records
August: 66 records
September: 32 records
October: 99 records
November: 101 records
December: 41 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 31–66 m · Deepest record: 529 m

0–10 m: 5 records
10–20 m: 13 records
20–30 m: 15 records
30–40 m: 142 records
40–50 m: 62 records
50–60 m: 107 records
60–70 m: 33 records
70–80 m: 18 records
80–90 m: 3 records
90–100 m: 1 records
100–110 m: 1 records
110+ m: 6 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 14–27 °C

12–14 °C: 13 records
14–16 °C: 36 records
16–18 °C: 61 records
18–20 °C: 85 records
20–22 °C: 163 records
22–24 °C: 46 records
24–26 °C: 3 records
26–28 °C: 1 records

Photos

Names and classification

English: Australian spiny gurnard, Butterfly Gurnard, Eastern Spiny Gurnard, Southern Spiny Gurnard, Spiny Gurnard

Other scientific names: Paratrigla papilio, Trigla papilio

Similar species

Scaly gurnard
Lepidotrigla brachyoptera
Bight Gurnard
Lepidotrigla vanessa
Lepidotrigla alata
Eye Gurnard
Lepidotrigla argus
Belalang
Lepidotrigla japonica
Cocky Gurnard
Lepidotrigla modesta

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).
633 open-data records from 1895 to 2015.
Species data updated November 4, 2026.

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