Yellow goosefish

Lophius litulon

Fish
IUCN: Data deficient

Usual depth40–343 m
Water temperature8–22 °C
Best monthsNovember
How commonRare

About this species

Lophius litulon is a species of marine fish in the family Lophiidae native to Northwest Pacific Ocean. The species is a bottom dwelling predator that feeds primarily on fish and crustaceans. L. litulon is commercially harvested for food and marketed as monkfish.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Lophius litulon”, 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: 3 records
February: 3 records
March: 2 records
April: 0 records
May: 6 records
June: 6 records
July: 2 records
August: 1 records
September: 4 records
October: 6 records
November: 11 records
December: 6 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 40–343 m · Deepest record: 382.5 m

30–40 m: 1 records
40–50 m: 1 records
50–60 m: 0 records
60–70 m: 1 records
70–80 m: 0 records
80–90 m: 0 records
90–100 m: 2 records
100–110 m: 0 records
110–120 m: 0 records
120–130 m: 0 records
130–140 m: 0 records
140+ m: 8 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 8–22 °C

6–8 °C: 1 records
8–10 °C: 0 records
10–12 °C: 0 records
12–14 °C: 0 records
14–16 °C: 3 records
16–18 °C: 4 records
18–20 °C: 10 records
20–22 °C: 4 records
22–24 °C: 1 records

Names and classification

English: Yellow goosefish, yellow goosefish

Names in 6 more languages

German: Chineser Seeteufel
Spanish: Rape amarillo, rape chino
French: baudroie chinoise
Japanese: Kianko, キアンコウ
Korean: 황아귀
Simplified Chinese: 鮟鱇, 黃鮟鱇

Other scientific names: Lophiomus litulon

Similar species

Smooth angler
Lophiodes mutilus
Blackmouth angler
Lophiomus setigerus
Hawaiian Goosefish
Lophiodes bruchius
Endo's Anglerfish
Lophiodes endoi
Malabar monkfish
Lophiodes gracilimanus
Natal angler
Lophiodes insidiator

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).
64 open-data records from 1900 to 2009.
Species data updated November 4, 2026.

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