Spotcheek emperor

Lethrinus rubrioperculatus

Fish
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth24–90 m
Water temperature23–30 °C
Best monthsMay
How commonOccasional

Photo credit: (c) Georgina Jones, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), uploaded by Georgina Jones · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist

About this species

Lethrinus rubrioperculatus, the spotcheek emperor, red-eared emperor, red-ears, red-edged emperor, scarlet-cheek emperor, and spot cheek emperor, is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Lethrinidae, the emperors or emperor breams. This species has a wide Indo-Pacific distribution.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Lethrinus rubrioperculatus”, 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: 27 records
February: 29 records
March: 36 records
April: 34 records
May: 690 records
June: 13 records
July: 15 records
August: 189 records
September: 150 records
October: 152 records
November: 41 records
December: 76 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 24–90 m · Deepest record: 149 m

0–10 m: 16 records
10–20 m: 69 records
20–30 m: 103 records
30–40 m: 64 records
40–50 m: 55 records
50–60 m: 87 records
60–70 m: 25 records
70–80 m: 370 records
80–90 m: 437 records
90–100 m: 123 records
100–110 m: 4 records
110+ m: 1 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 23–30 °C

22–24 °C: 8 records
24–26 °C: 455 records
26–28 °C: 53 records
28–30 °C: 124 records

Photos

Names and classification

English: Spotcheek emperor, Red-eared Emperor, red-ears, Red-edged Emperor, red-gilled emperor, Scarlet-cheek Emperor, spotcheek emperor

Names in 4 more languages

Spanish: Emperador Maquillado
French: Bécune, Capitaine gueule rose, Bossu Rond, Bossu rond, Bossu varié, Bossu Varié, Capitaine Gueule Rose, Capitaine Honteux, Capitaine honteux, Empereur honteux, Empereur Honteux
Japanese: Hoakakuchibi, ホオアカクチビ
Simplified Chinese: 紅裸頰鯛, 紅鰓龍占魚, 红裸颊鲷, 龍尖

Similar species

Longspine emperor
Lethrinus genivittatus
Pink ear emperor
Lethrinus lentjan
Trumpet emperor
Lethrinus miniatus
Spangled emperor
Lethrinus nebulosus
Pacific yellowtail emperor
Lethrinus atkinsoni
Orange-spotted emperor
Lethrinus erythracanthus

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).
1,776 open-data records from 1964 to 2023.
Species data updated November 4, 2026.

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