Horse-shoe Leatherjacket

Meuschenia hippocrepis

Fish
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth5–10 m
Water temperature15–22 °C
Best monthsJanuary, March, and December
How commonOccasional

Photo credit: (c) Grady Duffy, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

About this species

Meuschenia hippocrepis, commonly called the horseshoe leatherjacket, is a filefish endemic to the eastern Indian Ocean, in the temperate waters off the south and west of Australia. It grows to a length of about 51 cm (20 in). Its common name comes from a distinct horseshoe-shaped marking on their side. It occasionally makes its way into the aquarium trade.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Meuschenia hippocrepis”, 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: 298 records
February: 217 records
March: 351 records
April: 208 records
May: 147 records
June: 132 records
July: 65 records
August: 77 records
September: 99 records
October: 134 records
November: 202 records
December: 237 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 5–10 m · Deepest record: 155 m

0–10 m: 118 records
10–20 m: 15 records
20–30 m: 1 records
30–40 m: 0 records
40–50 m: 0 records
50–60 m: 0 records
60–70 m: 0 records
70–80 m: 1 records
80–90 m: 0 records
90–100 m: 0 records
100–110 m: 0 records
110+ m: 1 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 15–22 °C

14–16 °C: 249 records
16–18 °C: 10 records
18–20 °C: 5 records
20–22 °C: 18 records
22–24 °C: 1 records

Photos

no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
(c) Christopher Mark, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Grady Duffy, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Christopher Mark, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Belinda Forbes, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Josh Nitschke, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Lawrence Hylton, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Horse-shoe Leatherjacket, Horse Shoe Leatherjacket, Purple People Eater, Variable Leatherjacket

Other scientific names: Balistes hippocrepis, Monacanthus hippocrepis

Similar species

Cosmopolitan Leatherjacket
Meuschenia scabra
Brown-striped Leatherjacket
Meuschenia australis
Orange-tailed Leatherjacket
Meuschenia flavolineata
Xix-spined leatherjacket
Meuschenia freycineti
Blue-lined Leatherjacket
Meuschenia galii
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).
2,177 open-data records from 1910 to 2007.
Species data updated November 4, 2026.

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