Louvar

Luvarus imperialis

Fish
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth20–758 m
Water temperature12–28 °C
Best monthsJanuary, October, and December
How commonRare

About this species

The louvar or luvar is a species of marine ray-finned fish, it is the only extant species in the genus Luvarus and family Luvaridae. This taxon is classified within the suborder Acanthuroidei, which includes the surgeonfish, of the order Acanthuriformes, and is the only pelagic species of this order. The juvenile form has a pair of spines near the base of the tail, like the surgeonfish, though they are lost in the adult.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Louvar”, 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: 6 records
February: 3 records
March: 3 records
April: 4 records
May: 2 records
June: 3 records
July: 4 records
August: 3 records
September: 3 records
October: 7 records
November: 4 records
December: 8 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 20–758 m · Deepest record: 757.5 m

20–30 m: 1 records
30–40 m: 0 records
40–50 m: 0 records
50–60 m: 0 records
60–70 m: 0 records
70–80 m: 0 records
80–90 m: 0 records
90–100 m: 0 records
100–110 m: 0 records
110–120 m: 0 records
120–130 m: 0 records
130+ m: 2 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 12–28 °C

10–12 °C: 1 records
12–14 °C: 6 records
14–16 °C: 4 records
16–18 °C: 3 records
18–20 °C: 6 records
20–22 °C: 11 records
22–24 °C: 5 records
24–26 °C: 9 records
26–28 °C: 5 records
28–30 °C: 1 records

Names and classification

English: Louvar, Luvar, louvar, luvar, Luvar, Louvar

Names in 3 more languages

Spanish: emperador, Emperador, Luvaro
French: Louvareau, Louvareau, Louvereau, Poisson empereur, louvereau
Japanese: Amashiira, アマシイラ

Other scientific names: Astroderma plumbeum, Astrodermus coryphaenoides, Astrodermus elegans, Astrodermus guttatus, Ausonia cuvieri, Coryphaena elegans, Diana semilunata, Diana valenciennesii, Luvar imperialis, Luvaris imperialis, Proctostegus proctostegus, Proctostegus prototypus

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).
124 open-data records from 1895 to 2024.
Species data updated November 4, 2026.

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