Blackthroat Triplefin

About this species

Enneapterygius atrogulare is a species of triplefin blenny in the genus Enneapterygius. Although it is known as the blackthroat triplefin in the United Kingdom, it is also known as the ring-scale triplefin, black triplefin, eastern white-barred threefin, ringed triplefin, eastern Australian blackhead triplefin or the saddled triplefin in Australia. It is a subtropical, non-migratory blenny found in coral reefs in the western Pacific Ocean, around Australia and Tonga. Blackthroat triplefins swim at a depth range of 0–5 metres, and both juveniles and adults feed primarily on benthic algae, weeds, and invertebrates. Male E. atrogulare can reach a maximum length of 5 centimetres.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Enneapterygius atrogulare”, 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: 233 records
February: 137 records
March: 104 records
April: 39 records
May: 36 records
June: 16 records
July: 18 records
August: 32 records
September: 61 records
October: 77 records
November: 164 records
December: 181 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 0–13 m · Deepest record: 12.5 m

0–10 m: 4 records
10–20 m: 3 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 18–27 °C

16–18 °C: 1 records
18–20 °C: 6 records
20–22 °C: 62 records
22–24 °C: 59 records
24–26 °C: 28 records
26–28 °C: 8 records

Photos

(c) Lawrence Hylton, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Niki Hubbard, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Rosie Steinberg, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Tim, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Emma Sophie, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Valentin Moser, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Blackthroat Triplefin, Black Triple-fins, Eastern Australian Blackhead Triplefin, Eastern White-barred Threefin, Ringed Triplefin, Ringed Triple-fins, Ring-scale Threefin, Ringscale Threefin, Saddled Triplefin

Names in 1 more languages

Simplified Chinese: 黑双线鳚

Other scientific names: Enneapterygius annulatus, Tripterygium annulatum, Tripterygium atrogulare, Vauclusella annulata, Vauclusella atrogulare

Similar species

Enneapterygius etheostoma
Black-cheek Threefin
Enneapterygius rufopileus
Highfin Threefin
Enneapterygius tutuilae
Yellow triplefin
Enneapterygius abeli
Hawaiian Blackhead Triplefin
Enneapterygius atriceps
Enneapterygius hsiojenae

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).
531 open-data records from 1895 to 2011.
Species data updated November 2, 2026.