Sandwich Isle file

Cantherhines sandwichiensis

Fish
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth4–17 m
Water temperature18–30 °C
Best monthsJuly, August, and September
How commonOccasional

Photo credit: (c) My-Lan Le, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

About this species

Cantherhines sandwichiensis, also called sandwich isle filefish, squaretail filefish, or - in Hawaiian - ʻōʻililepa. It is a marine fish in the family Monacanthidae.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Cantherhines sandwichiensis”, 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: 33 records
February: 23 records
March: 20 records
April: 24 records
May: 25 records
June: 69 records
July: 102 records
August: 166 records
September: 100 records
October: 92 records
November: 36 records
December: 15 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 4–17 m · Deepest record: 137.2 m

0–10 m: 251 records
10–20 m: 263 records
20–30 m: 31 records
30–40 m: 1 records
40–50 m: 0 records
50–60 m: 0 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 18–30 °C

18–20 °C: 1 records
20–22 °C: 0 records
22–24 °C: 3 records
24–26 °C: 463 records
26–28 °C: 32 records
28–30 °C: 42 records

Photos

(c) Robin White, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
(c) Robert Webster, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
(c) Robin White, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
(c) jeyre, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Sandwich Isle file, brown leatherjacket, Sandwich Isle Filefish, Squaretail Filefish, Squaretail Filefish, Sandwich isle file

Names in 2 more languages

French: Bourse Pitaire, Coffre, Poisson-lime à queue carrée
Japanese: スクエアテイルファイルフィッシュ

Other scientific names: Amanses sandwichiensis, Balistes sandwichiensis, Monacanthus nasutus, Monacanthus sandwichiensis, Monocanthus nasutus

Similar species

Barred filefish
Cantherhines dumerilii
Honeycomb filefish
Cantherhines pardalis
Spectacled filefish
Cantherhines fronticinctus
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).
673 open-data records from 1902 to 2019.
Species data updated October 26, 2026.

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