Sailfin armourhead

Histiopterus typus

Fish
IUCN: Not evaluated

Usual depth102–237 m
Water temperature18–29 °C
Best monthsJune, September, and October
How commonRare

About this species

The sailfin armourhead, also known as the threebar boarfish, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, an armourhead from the family Pentacerotidae which is native to the Indian Ocean and the western Pacific Ocean. It is an inhabitant of rocky reefs in deeper waters of 40 to 421 m in depth. This species grows to a length of 42 cm (17 in), though most are only around 20 cm (7.9 in). It is a commercially important species, and is the only known member of its genus.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Sailfin armourhead”, 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: 6 records
February: 3 records
March: 2 records
April: 10 records
May: 3 records
June: 22 records
July: 3 records
August: 12 records
September: 14 records
October: 23 records
November: 5 records
December: 2 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 102–237 m · Deepest record: 325 m

0–10 m: 1 records
10–20 m: 0 records
20–30 m: 0 records
30–40 m: 0 records
40–50 m: 0 records
50–60 m: 0 records
60–70 m: 0 records
70–80 m: 2 records
80–90 m: 1 records
90–100 m: 2 records
100–110 m: 3 records
110+ m: 73 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 18–29 °C

18–20 °C: 7 records
20–22 °C: 8 records
22–24 °C: 9 records
24–26 °C: 20 records
26–28 °C: 51 records
28–30 °C: 22 records

Names and classification

English: Sailfin armourhead, Threebar Boarfish, Three-barred Boarfish

Names in 4 more languages

Japanese: Kawabisha, カワビシャ
Korean: 황줄돔
Thai: ปลาหูช้างหน้าตั้ง
Simplified Chinese: 五棘鯛, 帆鰭魚, 旗鯛

Other scientific names: Histiopterus spinifer, Histiopterus tyfus, Histiopterus types

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).
241 open-data records from 1844 to 2025.

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