Blacktip Cucumberfish

Paraulopus nigripinnis

Fish
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth97–424 m
Water temperature8–24 °C
Best monthsFebruary, April, and November
How commonCommon

About this species

Paraulopus nigripinnis, the cucumber fish, ‘’‘Montague whiting’’’ is a grinner of the genus Paraulopus. It is a deep water fish found around southern Australia and New Zealand on the continental shelf at depths between 65 and 600 m. Their length is between 15 and 20 cm. They were first described by Günther in 1878.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Paraulopus nigripinnis”, 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: 232 records
March: 153 records
April: 270 records
May: 155 records
June: 143 records
July: 204 records
August: 205 records
September: 131 records
October: 149 records
November: 283 records
December: 154 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 97–424 m · Deepest record: 965 m

10–20 m: 1 records
20–30 m: 3 records
30–40 m: 2 records
40–50 m: 6 records
50–60 m: 8 records
60–70 m: 20 records
70–80 m: 50 records
80–90 m: 182 records
90–100 m: 72 records
100–110 m: 108 records
110–120 m: 236 records
120+ m: 2,632 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 8–24 °C

6–8 °C: 1 records
8–10 °C: 4 records
10–12 °C: 0 records
12–14 °C: 4 records
14–16 °C: 83 records
16–18 °C: 127 records
18–20 °C: 103 records
20–22 °C: 80 records
22–24 °C: 5 records

Names and classification

English: Blacktip Cucumberfish, cucumberfish, Greeneyes

Other scientific names: Chlorophthalmus nigripinnis

Similar species

Banded Cucumberfish
Paraulopus balteatus
Shortsnout Cucumberfish
Paraulopus brevirostris
Paraulopus legandi
Longﬁn Cucumberﬁsh
Paraulopus longianalis
Blackline Cucumberfish
Paraulopus melanogrammus
Licoricemouth Cucumberfish
Paraulopus melanostomus

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).
3,734 open-data records from 1898 to 2020.
Species data updated November 5, 2026.

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