Estuary Stargazer

Leptoscopus macropygus

Fish
IUCN: Not evaluated

Usual depth48–470 m
Water temperature9–18 °C
Best monthsFebruary, March, and July
How commonRare

Photo credit: (c) Sebastian Doak, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

About this species

Leptoscopus macropygus, commonly known as the estuary stargazer, is a species of southern sandfish endemic to the Pacific waters around New Zealand. It occurs at depths between a few and 60 m. This species can reach a length of 17 centimetres (6.7 in) FL. It is currently the only known member of its genus.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Estuary stargazer”, 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: 2 records
February: 6 records
March: 5 records
April: 0 records
May: 0 records
June: 0 records
July: 4 records
August: 0 records
September: 4 records
October: 1 records
November: 0 records
December: 2 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 48–470 m · Deepest record: 740 m

0–10 m: 1 records
10–20 m: 13 records
20–30 m: 20 records
30–40 m: 2 records
40–50 m: 7 records
50–60 m: 6 records
60–70 m: 9 records
70–80 m: 11 records
80–90 m: 1 records
90–100 m: 4 records
100–110 m: 6 records
110+ m: 347 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 9–18 °C

8–10 °C: 5 records
10–12 °C: 185 records
12–14 °C: 182 records
14–16 °C: 6 records
16–18 °C: 49 records

Photos

Names and classification

English: Estuary Stargazer, monkfish, stargazer

Other scientific names: Uranoscopus macropygus

Similar species

Common Sandfish
Lesueurina platycephala
sandfish
Crapatalus angusticeps
sandfish
Crapatalus novaezelandiae
Munro's Pygmy-stargazer
Crapatalus munroi

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).
439 open-data records from 1964 to 2009.
Species data updated November 4, 2026.

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