Bicolor goatfish

About this species

Parupeneus barberinoides, the bicolor goatfish, is a species of goatfish native to the western Pacific Ocean. An inhabitant of coral reefs, it can be found at depths of from 1 to 40 metres. This species can reach a length of 30 centimetres (12 in) TL though most are only around 20 centimetres (7.9 in). This is a commercially important species and can also be found in the aquarium trade.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Parupeneus barberinoides”, 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: 56 records
February: 44 records
March: 61 records
April: 53 records
May: 63 records
June: 88 records
July: 201 records
August: 109 records
September: 114 records
October: 103 records
November: 85 records
December: 57 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 4–36 m · Deepest record: 69 m

0–10 m: 352 records
10–20 m: 117 records
20–30 m: 51 records
30–40 m: 34 records
40–50 m: 27 records
50–60 m: 23 records
60–70 m: 2 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 20–29 °C

20–22 °C: 2 records
22–24 °C: 12 records
24–26 °C: 95 records
26–28 °C: 210 records
28–30 °C: 77 records

Photos

(c) Nicola Crockford, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) desertnaturalist, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Debra Baker, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) 呂一起(Lyu yi-chi), some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Debra Baker, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Leon Perrie, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Tim, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Bicolor goatfish, Bicolour Goatfish, Goatfish, Half-and-half goatfish, Swarthy-headed goatfish

Names in 5 more languages

Spanish: Chivito Bicolor
Filipino: Bisugo, Dalagang bukid, Manitis, Salmonito, Salmunete, Saramulyeteng hato, Saramulyeteng hulik, Saramulyeteng tagisi, Tuyo, Yangutan
French: Barbet moitié-moitié, Rouget bicolore
Japanese: Indohimeji, インドヒメジ
Simplified Chinese: 似條斑副緋鯉, 秋姑, 鬚哥, 鬚海緋鯉

Other scientific names: Pseudopeneus barberinoides, Upeneus barberinoides

Similar species

Gold-saddle goatfish
Parupeneus cyclostomus
Bighead goatfish
Parupeneus heptacantha
Banded Goatfish
Parupeneus multifasciatus
Dash-and-dot goatfish
Parupeneus barberinus
Double-banded Goatfish
Parupeneus crassilabris
Forsskal's goatfish
Parupeneus forsskali

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).
1,283 open-data records from 1924 to 2023.
Species data updated October 30, 2026.