Xix-spined leatherjacket

Meuschenia freycineti

Fish
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth3–45 m
Water temperature14–26 °C
Best monthsMarch, November, and December
How commonOccasional

Photo credit: (c) Christopher Mark, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

About this species

Meuschenia freycineti, commonly called the sixspine leatherjacket. Other names include, Freycinet's leatherjacket, grey leatherjacket, orange-spotted leatherjacket, reef leatherjacket, six-spine leatherjacket, six-spined leatherjacket, Skottowe's leatherjacket and variable leatherjacket. It grows to a length of about 60 cm (24 in). It is a filefish.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Meuschenia freycineti”, 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: 463 records
February: 410 records
March: 507 records
April: 293 records
May: 213 records
June: 242 records
July: 118 records
August: 256 records
September: 364 records
October: 319 records
November: 498 records
December: 627 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 3–45 m · Deepest record: 146 m

0–10 m: 517 records
10–20 m: 56 records
20–30 m: 185 records
30–40 m: 103 records
40–50 m: 119 records
50–60 m: 27 records
60–70 m: 14 records
70–80 m: 6 records
80–90 m: 5 records
90–100 m: 4 records
100–110 m: 2 records
110+ m: 3 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 14–26 °C

12–14 °C: 14 records
14–16 °C: 191 records
16–18 °C: 54 records
18–20 °C: 86 records
20–22 °C: 50 records
22–24 °C: 0 records
24–26 °C: 0 records
26–28 °C: 1 records

Photos

(c) Zara, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Josh Nitschke, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
(c) Lek Khauv, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Bruce Deagle, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Josh Nitschke, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Bruce Deagle, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Xix-spined leatherjacket, Freycinet's Leatherjacket, Grey Leatherjacket, Orange-spotted Leatherjacket, panga filefish, Reef Leatherjacket, Six-spined Leatherjacket, Six-spine Leatherjacket, Sixspine Leatherjacket, Skottowe's Leatherjacket, Variable Leatherjacket, xix-spined leatherjacket

Names in 2 more languages

German: Sechsstachel-Feilenfisch
Simplified Chinese: 斑头似马面单棘鲀

Other scientific names: Balistes freycineti, Meuschenia skottowei, Monacanthus multiradiatus, Stephanolepis freycineti, Thamnaconus frecyneti

Similar species

Cosmopolitan Leatherjacket
Meuschenia scabra
Brown-striped Leatherjacket
Meuschenia australis
Orange-tailed Leatherjacket
Meuschenia flavolineata
Blue-lined Leatherjacket
Meuschenia galii
Horse-shoe Leatherjacket
Meuschenia hippocrepis
Yellowfin Leatherjacket
Meuschenia trachylepis

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).
3,260 open-data records from 1948 to 2023.
Species data updated November 4, 2026.

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