Black squirrelfish
Neoniphon opercularis
- Usual depth2–21 m
- Water temperature24–30 °C
- Best monthsApril and October
- How commonOccasional
About this species
Neoniphon opercularis, the blackfin squirrelfish, also known as the mouth-fin squirrelfish or clearfin squirrelfish, is a species of squirrelfish found in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean from East Africa as far east as New Caledonia. It lives alone or in small groups in or near reefs and lagoons between 3 and 25 metres deep and can reach sizes of up to 35.0 centimetres (13.8 in) TL. It eats crabs and shrimps. Its dorsal fin is raised to scare off or startle predators. It also has a large venomous spine at the corner of its preopercle. It is relatively unaffected by commercial fishing, but is sometimes used as bait for tuna fisheries.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Neoniphon opercularis”, 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: 14 records
- March: 15 records
- April: 36 records
- May: 15 records
- June: 18 records
- July: 24 records
- August: 34 records
- September: 19 records
- October: 58 records
- November: 10 records
- December: 6 records
Depth and water temperature
Depth
Mostly recorded at 2–21 m · Deepest record: 35 m
Water temperature
Recorded in surface water of 24–30 °C
Names and classification
- English
- Black squirrelfish, Black-finned Squirrelfish, blackfin soldier, Blackfin Squirrelfish, black squirrelfish, Clearfin Squirrelfish, Mouth-fin Squirrelfish, Mouthfin Squirrelfish
Names in 4 more languages
- Spanish
- Cardil de Aleta Negra
- French
- Marignan aile noire, Poisson-écureuil à nageoire noire, Poisson-écureuil argenté à bandes, Soldat à Nageoire Noire
- Japanese
- Hireguroittodai, ヒレグロイットウダイ
- Simplified Chinese
- 瀾公妾, 金鱗甲, 鐵甲, 鐵甲兵, 鐵線婆, 黑鰭新東洋金鱗魚, 黑鰭新東洋鰃, 黑鰭金鱗魚, 黑鳍新东洋鳂
Other scientific names: Flammeo opercularis, Holocentrum operculare, Holocentrus opercularis, Kutaflammeo opercularis, Neoniphon openrcularis
Similar species
- Sammara squirrelfish
Neoniphon sammara
- Blackfin Squirrelfish
Neoniphon argenteus
Bigscale soldierfishMyripristis berndti
Brick SoldierfishMyripristis amaena
Pearly soldierfishMyripristis kuntee
- Shadowfin soldierfish
Myripristis adusta
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).
- 465 open-data records from 1902 to 2021.
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