Oblique-swimming Triplefin
Forsterygion maryannae
- Usual depth6–26 m
- Water temperature13–18 °C
- Best monthsOctober and November
- How commonOccasional
Photo credit: (c) Shaun Lee, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
About this species
The oblique-swimming triplefin is a triplefin, found along the north east coast of the North Island of New Zealand from depths of about 5 m to 50 m. They are the only triplefins not to spend most of their time resting on the bottom, instead swimming in loose schools of up to hundreds of individuals above rocky reefs. When swimming their head is higher than the tail, giving rise to their common name.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Oblique-swimming triplefin”, 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: 48 records
- February: 63 records
- March: 46 records
- April: 48 records
- May: 14 records
- June: 10 records
- July: 14 records
- August: 8 records
- September: 16 records
- October: 117 records
- November: 176 records
- December: 86 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) Javier, 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 
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist 
(c) Rose Zappa, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Luca Davenport-Thomas, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
Names and classification
- English
- Oblique-swimming Triplefin
Other scientific names: Obliquichthys maryannae
Similar species
Common ThreefinForsterygion lapillum
Banded triplefinForsterygion malcolmi
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).
- 485 open-data records from 1960 to 2013.
- Species data updated November 2, 2026.
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