The mangrove waspfish (Vespicula trachinoides), also known as the goblinfish, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a waspfish belonging to the subfamily Tetraroginae, which is classified as part of the family Scorpaenidae, the scorpionfishes and their relatives.

The mangrove waspfish was first formally described as a species in 1829 as Apistus trachinoides by the French zoologist Georges Cuvier with the type locality given as Java in Indonesia.

[7] The mangrove waspfish has a laterally compressed body[8] which is covered in small scales.

[9] The mangrove waspfish is found in the Indo-Pacific from the Mergui Archipelago off Myanmar east to the Philippines and Sulawesi and north to Vietnam and Hainan.

[2] This species ca be found in estuarine areas, including mangrove creeks[8] over substrates of soft sand and shell fragments.