Painted Morwong

About this species

The painted moki, also known as the painted morwong, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, traditionally regarded as belonging to the family Cheilodactylidae, the members of which are commonly known as morwongs. It is found in the southwestern Pacific Ocean.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Painted moki”, 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: 53 records
February: 65 records
March: 24 records
April: 23 records
May: 15 records
June: 7 records
July: 5 records
August: 2 records
September: 12 records
October: 19 records
November: 25 records
December: 43 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 7–19 m · Deepest record: 49 m

0–10 m: 37 records
10–20 m: 45 records
20–30 m: 7 records
30–40 m: 1 records
40–50 m: 1 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 18–22 °C

16–18 °C: 14 records
18–20 °C: 8 records
20–22 °C: 90 records
22–24 °C: 1 records

Photos

(c) Susan Prior, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Thomas Linley, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Oscar Dove, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Oscar Dove, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Luca Davenport-Thomas, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Painted Morwong, Tarakihi

Other scientific names: Cheilodactylus ephippium, Goniistius ephippium

Similar species

Red Morwong
Morwong fuscus
Deep Sea Perch
Nemadactylus macropterus
Banded Morwong
Chirodactylus spectabilis
Black Butterfish
Dactylophora nigricans
Crested Morwong
Goniistius vestitus
bastard trumpeter
Latridopsis ciliaris

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).
113 open-data records from 1961 to 2013.
Species data updated November 4, 2026.