Mirror dory

Zenopsis nebulosa

Fish
IUCN: Not evaluated

Usual depth144–483 m
Water temperature8–29 °C
Best monthsJune, July, and October
How commonOccasional

Photo credit: (c) りなべる, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

About this species

The mirror dory is a dory of the family Zeidae, found in the southern Pacific Ocean at depths of between 30 and 800 m. More specifically, the Zenopsis nebulosa is found in locations such as New Zealand, southern Hokkaido, Japan, the Emperor Seamount, the eastern coast of Australia, and the southern coast of Australia. Its length is up to 70 cm.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Mirror dory”, 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: 25 records
February: 54 records
March: 76 records
April: 97 records
May: 121 records
June: 126 records
July: 143 records
August: 84 records
September: 63 records
October: 154 records
November: 70 records
December: 90 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 144–483 m · Deepest record: 3,162 m

40–50 m: 6 records
50–60 m: 4 records
60–70 m: 7 records
70–80 m: 11 records
80–90 m: 8 records
90–100 m: 17 records
100–110 m: 19 records
110–120 m: 23 records
120–130 m: 48 records
130–140 m: 30 records
140–150 m: 51 records
150+ m: 1,702 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 8–29 °C

6–8 °C: 2 records
8–10 °C: 5 records
10–12 °C: 12 records
12–14 °C: 47 records
14–16 °C: 31 records
16–18 °C: 171 records
18–20 °C: 151 records
20–22 °C: 87 records
22–24 °C: 23 records
24–26 °C: 9 records
26–28 °C: 13 records
28–30 °C: 3 records

Names and classification

English: Mirror dory, mirror dory

Names in 2 more languages

Japanese: Kagamidai, カガミダイ
Simplified Chinese: 雨印鯛, 雨的鯛, 雲紋亞海魴, 雲紋雨印鯛

Other scientific names: Zenopsis nebulosus, Zeus nebulosus

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).
2,241 open-data records from 1903 to 2022.
Species data updated October 31, 2026.

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