What elementals can I summon with Summon Monster?

Question

I am confused as to exactly which elementals I can summon using summon monster 1-9, and where some of them are suppose to fit.

So the summon monster spell lists the elementals as following:

• Small - Level 2
• Medium - Level 4
• Large - Level 5
• Huge - Level 6
• Greater - Level 7
• Elder - Level 8

Specifically the ones like the Elemental Dragons. They are huge, but do they actually fall under the level 6 summoning spell? The normal elements like fire, water, and so on have them listed by their type, so its clear at what spell level they can be summoned at.

So where do the specialty elementals fall, under their size, are they not summonable, or is there something else? For example an elder elemental has a CR of 11, but the dragon elementals have a CR of 18.

Answer 1

Summon Monster doesn't allow you to summon any creature of the elemental subtype, it allows you to summon the specific creature called “Elemental”. The table is a list of specific creatures, not creature subtypes:

The spell conjures one of the creatures from the 1st Level list on Table: Summon Monster.

What might be throwing you off is the links in the Summon Monster tables in the PFSRD. Unfortunately, the links are misleading. Most of PFSRD's links are automatically detected, but the generator can't tell the difference between “elemental” (the monster name) and “elemental” (the outsider subtype). Since the subtype is much more commonly what that string of letters means in the SRD, the automatic linker defaults to the page for the elemental subtype — which is the wrong meaning in this case.

In other words, when it says that Summon Monster II can summon an “Elemental (small)”, it means that you can summon a Small Fire Elemental, a Small Lightning Elemental, etc., not a small version of any creature with an elemental subtype.