banded lizardfish

Synodus dermatogenys

Fish
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth1–60 m
Water temperature20–30 °C
Best monthsApril and May
How commonOccasional

Photo credit: (c) Kai Squires, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Kai Squires · CC BY · iNaturalist

About this species

The sand lizardfish, clearfin lizardfish or variegated lizardfish is a species of lizardfish that lives mainly in the Indo-Pacific.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Sand lizardfish”, 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: 97 records
February: 68 records
March: 89 records
April: 214 records
May: 170 records
June: 97 records
July: 63 records
August: 85 records
September: 97 records
October: 105 records
November: 94 records
December: 57 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 1–60 m · Deepest record: 217 m

0–10 m: 141 records
10–20 m: 48 records
20–30 m: 30 records
30–40 m: 16 records
40–50 m: 20 records
50–60 m: 34 records
60–70 m: 18 records
70–80 m: 3 records
80–90 m: 1 records
90–100 m: 4 records
100–110 m: 3 records
110+ m: 4 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 20–30 °C

20–22 °C: 6 records
22–24 °C: 11 records
24–26 °C: 79 records
26–28 °C: 177 records
28–30 °C: 96 records

Photos

no rights reserved, uploaded by Andrew Deacon · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
(c) Georgina Jones, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
(c) Niki Robertson, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Susan Prior, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Pauline Walsh Jacobson, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) portioid, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Susan Prior, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: banded lizardfish, Bluestripe Lizardfish, Clearfin Lizardfish, Clearfin Lizardfish, Banded lizardfish, Grey-streak Lizardfish, Sand Lizardfish, Two-spot Lizardfish, Variegated Lizardfish

Names in 5 more languages

German: Sand-Eidechsenfisch
Spanish: Chile áspero
French: Anoli Bigarré, Anoli bigarré, Poisson-lézard de sable, Poisson-lézard à ligne bleue, Poisson-lézard à nageoires jaunes, Poisson-lézard de Sable
Japanese: Minamiakaeso, ミナミアカエソ
Simplified Chinese: 狗母, 狗母梭, 番狗母, 革狗母, 革狗母魚

Other scientific names: Synodus amaranthus, Synodus dermatogennis

Similar species

Common lizardfish
Synodus variegatus
Lighthouse lizardfish
Synodus jaculum

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).
1,232 open-data records from 1912 to 2023.
Species data updated October 26, 2026.

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