Banded triplefin
Forsterygion malcolmi
- Usual depth6–26 m
- Water temperature13–18 °C
- Best monthsNovember
- How commonOccasional
Photo credit: (c) Shaun Lee, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
About this species
The mottled triplefin is a triplefin of the genus Forsterygion, found around New Zealand at depths down to 30 m, in reef areas of broken rock. Its specific name honours Malcolm Francis of the Fisheries Research Centre in Wellington, New Zealand, who joined Hardy on his trips to collect specimens.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Mottled triplefin”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article
Where and when
Where it has been recorded
Worldwide
Loading the map
Best months
Worldwide (open data)
- January: 44 records
- February: 31 records
- March: 26 records
- April: 31 records
- May: 18 records
- June: 12 records
- July: 9 records
- August: 11 records
- September: 24 records
- October: 64 records
- November: 141 records
- December: 69 records
Depth and water temperature
Depth
Mostly recorded at 6–26 m · Deepest record: 31.5 m
Water temperature
Recorded in surface water of 13–18 °C
Photos
(c) Debra Baker, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Luca Davenport-Thomas, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Debra Baker, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Luca Davenport-Thomas, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Oscar Dove, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) desertnaturalist, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Shaun Lee, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
Names and classification
- English
- Banded triplefin, Mottled Triplefin
Similar species
Common ThreefinForsterygion lapillum
Oblique-swimming TriplefinForsterygion maryannae
Many-rayed ThreefinForsterygion varium
Mottled triplefinForsterygion capito
Yellow-and-black TriplefinForsterygion flavonigrum
Estuarine ThreefinForsterygion gymnotum
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).
- 325 open-data records from 1971 to 2013.
- Species data updated November 2, 2026.
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