Whitepen dragonfish

Photonectes albipennis

Fish
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth100–998 m
Water temperature11–30 °C
Best monthsOctober and November
How commonRare

About this species

Photonectes albipennis is a species of deep-sea fish in the genus Photonectes. The species is distributed across the Pacific Ocean, and is commonly observed off the coast of Hawaii. Members of the species can reach a maximum length of ~30 centimeters.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Photonectes albipennis”, 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: 5 records
February: 3 records
March: 1 records
April: 7 records
May: 6 records
June: 3 records
July: 3 records
August: 7 records
September: 8 records
October: 22 records
November: 15 records
December: 3 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 100–998 m · Deepest record: 2,250 m

50–60 m: 1 records
60–70 m: 1 records
70–80 m: 0 records
80–90 m: 1 records
90–100 m: 1 records
100–110 m: 2 records
110–120 m: 0 records
120–130 m: 0 records
130–140 m: 0 records
140–150 m: 1 records
150–160 m: 1 records
160+ m: 38 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 11–30 °C

10–12 °C: 5 records
12–14 °C: 0 records
14–16 °C: 2 records
16–18 °C: 3 records
18–20 °C: 2 records
20–22 °C: 4 records
22–24 °C: 2 records
24–26 °C: 10 records
26–28 °C: 29 records
28–30 °C: 34 records

Names and classification

English: Whitepen dragonfish

Names in 2 more languages

Japanese: Hoteieso, ホテイエソ
Simplified Chinese: 巨口魚, 白鰭袋巨口魚

Other scientific names: Lucifer albipennis, Photonectes albipinnis

Similar species

Ribbon sawtail fish
Idiacanthus fasciola
Gunther's boafish
Stomias affinis
Grimaldi's loosejaw
Aristostomias grimaldii
Loosejaw
Aristostomias lunifer
Manyray Loosejaw
Aristostomias polydactylus
Strangemouth Loosejaw
Aristostomias xenostoma

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).
174 open-data records from 1906 to 2014.

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