Hollow-snouted Tripodfish

Fascinating facts about the Hollow-snouted Tripodfish

• In 1786 German physician Marcus Elieser Bloch first named this fish Balistes biaculeatus, a fact that anchors its scientific history over two centuries old. Its later re-classification in 1817 made it the type species of the genus Triacanthus, showing how a single specimen can shape an entire taxonomic group. This lineage highlights the lasting impact of early naturalists on modern marine classification.
• Six spines crown its dorsal fin, and the first spine can be three to four times longer than the second.
• The fish can grow up to 30 cm (12 in) in total length and lives on sand and mud flats as deep as 60 m (200 ft).
• Its body is split in colour: a silvery-grey underside meets a bluish-grey upper side, with a dark bat-shaped mark linking its eyes.
• The species is sold fresh in fish markets and is used in traditional Chinese medicine.

At a glance

About the Hollow-snouted Tripodfish

The hollow-snouted tripodfish, Triacanthus biaculeatus, is a marine ray-finned fish with a silvery-bluish grey upper body and a silvery-grey lower body, a dark bat-shaped stripe between its eyes, and a blotch beneath the first dorsal spine, which is three to four times longer than the second. It has six dorsal spines, 21-26 soft dorsal rays, and 17-23 anal soft rays, with yellowish fin membranes that may darken toward the tip of the dorsal spine. It reaches a maximum published total length of 30 cm (12 in). Its lower pelvic surface is broad and scaly, supporting a tripod of elongated pelvic spines. It is found in the Indo-West Pacific, from the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman through the Arabian Sea to northern Australia and central Honshu, Japan, on sand or mud flats and in estuaries down to 60 m (200 ft). It feeds on benthic invertebrates.

More fish to discover

Browse Feravox