Five fingers

Nemadactylus monodactylus

Fish
IUCN: Not evaluated

Usual depth6–120 m
Water temperature13–20 °C
Best monthsMarch and December
How commonRare

Photo credit: (c) Brian Gratwicke, certains droits réservés (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

About this species

St. Paul's fingerfin, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, traditionally regarded as belonging to the family Cheilodactylidae, the members of which are commonly known as morwongs. It is native to the southwestern Indian Ocean and southeastern Atlantic Ocean.

Text from the Wikipedia article “St. Paul's fingerfin”, 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: 12 records
February: 13 records
March: 16 records
April: 3 records
May: 1 records
June: 3 records
July: 11 records
August: 3 records
September: 2 records
October: 4 records
November: 0 records
December: 26 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 6–120 m · Deepest record: 167 m

0–10 m: 2 records
10–20 m: 2 records
20–30 m: 2 records
30–40 m: 1 records
40–50 m: 4 records
50–60 m: 3 records
60–70 m: 1 records
70–80 m: 1 records
80–90 m: 0 records
90–100 m: 0 records
100–110 m: 1 records
110+ m: 2 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 13–20 °C

12–14 °C: 7 records
14–16 °C: 95 records
16–18 °C: 5 records
18–20 °C: 0 records
20–22 °C: 4 records

Photos

Names and classification

English: Five fingers, St. Paul's fingerfin

Names in 1 more languages

French: Castanette de St. Paul

Other scientific names: Acantholatris monodactylus, Chaetodon monodactylus

Similar species

Deep Sea Perch
Nemadactylus macropterus
morwong
Nemadactylus douglasii
Blue Morwong
Nemadactylus valenciennesi
Banded Morwong
Chirodactylus spectabilis
Black Butterfish
Dactylophora nigricans
Crested Morwong
Goniistius vestitus

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).
127 open-data records from 1927 to 2004.
Species data updated November 4, 2026.

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