🐾 What Animal Lives Where

Where does the Antarctic lanternfish live?

Electrona antarctica has 13,772 records in 14 countries and territories, from 1870 to 2025. Most records come from Antarctica.

Antarctic lanternfish
Antarctic lanternfish — Photo: Valerie Loeb · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
AnimaliaChordataMyctophiformesMyctophidaeElectrona

When it is recorded

JFMAMJJASOND

Peak month: January. Records cluster in the months an animal is present and being looked for, so a summer peak can reflect observer effort as much as the animal.

Records over time

18702025

Recording effort has risen steeply almost everywhere since the 1990s, so a rising line usually shows more observers rather than more animals.

Where it is recorded

PlaceRecordsShare
Antarctica 7,795
Heard & McDonald Islands 1,793
South Georgia 1,365
French Southern Territories 716
Australia 51
ZZ 47
New Zealand 10
Argentina 6
Chile 3
Namibia 2
South Africa 2
Brazil 1
Falkland Islands 1
France 1

Related animals

Others in the family Myctophidae.

glacier lantern fish
glacier lantern fish
24,644 records
Topside lanternfish
9,826 records
Warming’s lanternfish
8,651 records
Rhombic lanternfish
7,285 records
Brauer’s lanternfish
Brauer’s lanternfish
6,704 records
Bolin’s lanternfish
3,906 records
Nichol's lanternfish
Nichol's lanternfish
3,182 records
Carlsberg's lanternfish
2,891 records
Status from the records: resident
Recorded across many years and months — an established presence. This is inferred from how many years and months the animal appears in, not from a range map — treat it as evidence, not a formal assessment.