White-edged lyretail

Variola albimarginata

Fish
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth13–55 m
Water temperature24–30 °C
Best monthsMarch and October
How commonOccasional

Photo credit: (c) portioid, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

About this species

The white-edged lyretail, also known as the white-edge coronation trout, lyretail grouper, lyretail trout, white-edged lyretail-cod or white-fringed moontail-bass, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a grouper from the subfamily Epinephelinae which is part of the family Serranidae, which also includes the anthias and sea basses. It is found in the Indo-Pacific region but it is an uncommon species.

Text from the Wikipedia article “White-edged lyretail”, 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: 37 records
February: 39 records
March: 93 records
April: 34 records
May: 38 records
June: 41 records
July: 33 records
August: 47 records
September: 47 records
October: 88 records
November: 49 records
December: 52 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 13–55 m · Deepest record: 185 m

0–10 m: 8 records
10–20 m: 49 records
20–30 m: 52 records
30–40 m: 41 records
40–50 m: 6 records
50–60 m: 20 records
60–70 m: 4 records
70–80 m: 1 records
80–90 m: 3 records
90–100 m: 1 records
100–110 m: 1 records
110+ m: 1 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 24–30 °C

22–24 °C: 2 records
24–26 °C: 22 records
26–28 °C: 116 records
28–30 °C: 99 records

Photos

(c) Bernard DUPONT, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
(c) Debra Baker, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Alexander Regio, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
(c) Ditch Townsend, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
(c) Debra Baker, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: White-edged lyretail, Lunar-tailed Grouper, Lyre-tail Cod, lyretail trout, Lyre-tail Trout, Moontail Seabass, Painted Coral Trout, white-edged lyretail, White-edged Lyre Tail, Whitemargin Lyretail Grouper

Names in 3 more languages

Spanish: Mero Rabiblanco
French: Croissant queue blanche, Croissant queue blanche, Tire bourre, Tire Bourre
Japanese: Ojirobarahata, オジロバラハタ

Other scientific names: Variola albimarginatus, Variola albomarginata

Similar species

Lunartail grouper
Variola louti
Peacock grouper
Cephalopholis argus
Coral grouper
Cephalopholis miniata
Darkfin hind
Cephalopholis urodeta
Blacktip grouper
Epinephelus fasciatus
Honeycomb grouper
Epinephelus merra

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).
484 open-data records from 1948 to 2023.
Species data updated October 31, 2026.

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