Spectacled filefish

Cantherhines fronticinctus

Fish
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth6–58 m
Water temperature21–29 °C
Best monthsJanuary, May, and June
How commonRare

Photo credit: (c) Jan Ebr & Ivana Ebrová, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

About this species

Cantherhines fronticinctus, known commonly as the spectacled filefish, is a species of marine fish in the family Monacanthidae.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Cantherhines fronticinctus”, 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: 25 records
February: 10 records
March: 14 records
April: 15 records
May: 22 records
June: 20 records
July: 11 records
August: 10 records
September: 11 records
October: 17 records
November: 17 records
December: 20 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 6–58 m · Deepest record: 150 m

0–10 m: 5 records
10–20 m: 4 records
20–30 m: 4 records
30–40 m: 1 records
40–50 m: 6 records
50–60 m: 12 records
60–70 m: 0 records
70–80 m: 0 records
80–90 m: 0 records
90–100 m: 0 records
100–110 m: 0 records
110+ m: 1 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 21–29 °C

20–22 °C: 3 records
22–24 °C: 2 records
24–26 °C: 11 records
26–28 °C: 28 records
28–30 °C: 9 records

Photos

no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
(c) PampaSorro, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Georgina Jones, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
(c) 呂一起(Lyu yi-chi), some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
(c) Georgina Jones, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Spectacled filefish, spectacled filefish, Spectacled Leatherjacket

Names in 3 more languages

French: Poisson-lime à lunettes
Japanese: Meganeumazurahagi, メガネウマズラハギ, メガネウマヅラハギ
Simplified Chinese: 剝皮魚, 縱帶刺鼻單棘魨, 縱帶前孔魨

Other scientific names: Amanses fronticinctus, Cantharines fronticinctus, Cantherhines fronticinctatus, Cantherhines fronticintus, Cantherines fronticinctus, Monacanthus fronticinctus

Similar species

Barred filefish
Cantherhines dumerilii
Honeycomb filefish
Cantherhines pardalis
Sandwich Isle file
Cantherhines sandwichiensis
Leatherjacket
Aluterus monoceros
Scrawled filefish
Aluterus scriptus
Broom filefish
Amanses scopas

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).
155 open-data records from 1867 to 2017.
Species data updated October 26, 2026.

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