Cow pilot

About this species

The sergeant major or píntano is a species of damselfish. It grows to a maximum length of about 22.9 cm (9.0 in).

Text from the Wikipedia article “Sergeant major (fish)”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

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Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 1,923 records
February: 1,913 records
March: 2,215 records
April: 1,990 records
May: 2,625 records
June: 4,088 records
July: 3,841 records
August: 4,174 records
September: 3,092 records
October: 1,474 records
November: 1,472 records
December: 1,447 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 3–14 m · Deepest record: 500 m

0–10 m: 17,180 records
10–20 m: 2,725 records
20–30 m: 523 records
30–40 m: 26 records
40–50 m: 1 records
50–60 m: 0 records
60–70 m: 0 records
70–80 m: 0 records
80–90 m: 1 records
90–100 m: 1 records
100–110 m: 0 records
110+ m: 3 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 21–28 °C

20–22 °C: 50 records
22–24 °C: 36 records
24–26 °C: 89 records
26–28 °C: 532 records
28–30 °C: 5 records

Photos

(c) Roger A. Morales-Flores, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Pauline Walsh Jacobson, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) João D'Andretta, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Donald Davesne, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Pauline Walsh Jacobson, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Tim Hirsch, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) James-LaFontaine, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Cow pilot, Cow polly, Sergeant major, Atlantic Sergeant Major, cow pilot, cow polly, Damsel Fish, Five Finger, Pilotfish, Pilot Fish, Sargeant Major, sergeant major, Sergeant-major, Sergeant Major

Names in 4 more languages

German: Gestreifter Sergeant
Spanish: Castañuela, petaca rayada, Petaca rayada, píntano, Sargento mayor, Sargento Mayor de las Antillas
French: Castagnole, Castagnole, Chauffet soleil, Chauffet Soleil, Sergent-major, Sergent Major, Sergent-major des Antilles, Sergent-major des Caraïbes
Simplified Chinese: 條紋豆娘魚

Other scientific names: Abudefduf ascensionis, Abudefduf marginatus, Abudefduf saxiatilis, Abudefduf sexatilis, Apogon quinquevittatus, Chaetodon marginatus, Chaetodon mauritii, Chaetodon sargoides, Chaetodon saxatilis, Glyphidodon saxatilis, Glyphisodon biniar, Glyphisodon moucharra, Glyphisodon saxatilis

Similar species

Scissortail sergeant
Abudefduf sexfasciatus
Indo-Pacific sergeant
Abudefduf vaigiensis
Bengal Sergeant
Abudefduf bengalensis
Banded sergeant
Abudefduf septemfasciatus
Blackspot sergeant
Abudefduf sordidus
Banded Damselfish
Abudefduf abdominalis

Sources and credits

Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).

Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
34,240 open-data records from 1758 to 2023.
Species data updated October 26, 2026.