Cepola macrophthalma is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Cepolidae, the bandfishes.

Cepola macrophthalma was first formally described as Ophidion macrophthalmum in 1758 by Carl Linnaeus with the type locality given as Algiers.

[5] It is found on the coast and inner continental shelf of the eastern Atlantic between northern Senegal and Scotland and the Mediterranean west of the Aegean Sea and the Nile Delta.

[9] Bandfish are an important part of the diets of many oceanic predators, especially John Dories,[10] but also other fish, common dolphins[11] and the musky octopus, Eledone moschata.

A recipe for this species[14] is found in the earliest cookbook, by the Greek cook Mithaecus, and is quoted in the Deipnosophistae of Athenaeus.

Andrew Dalby translated it as follows: Tainia: gut, discard the head, rinse, slice; add cheese and oil.

In some countries (such as Italy and Spain) it is still consumed, but in others (such as Greece) it is generally discarded when caught by fishermen trying to catch more desirable species.