Barred knifejaw

About this species

The barred knifejaw, also known as the striped beakfish or rock bream, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, from the family Oplegnathidae. It is commonly native to the north-western Pacific Ocean, though a smattering of records exist from other localities in the eastern Pacific such as Hawaii and Chile. Recently introduced – likely via ballast water – in the central Mediterranean, it is found very rarely from Malta to the northern Adriatic. There is no listed conservation status for this species, though it is farmed for consumption and angling in many Asian countries suggesting it is common.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Barred knifejaw”, 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: 5 records
February: 9 records
March: 11 records
April: 6 records
May: 4 records
June: 11 records
July: 26 records
August: 86 records
September: 75 records
October: 36 records
November: 12 records
December: 10 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 1–25 m · Deepest record: 786.5 m

0–10 m: 38 records
10–20 m: 30 records
20–30 m: 14 records
30–40 m: 1 records
40–50 m: 0 records
50–60 m: 0 records
60–70 m: 0 records
70–80 m: 0 records
80–90 m: 0 records
90–100 m: 0 records
100–110 m: 0 records
110+ m: 2 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 18–29 °C

16–18 °C: 2 records
18–20 °C: 42 records
20–22 °C: 6 records
22–24 °C: 19 records
24–26 °C: 34 records
26–28 °C: 1 records
28–30 °C: 1 records

Photos

(c) harum.koh, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
(c) りなべる, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Nicola Crockford, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) りなべる, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Nicola Crockford, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) harum.koh, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
(c) desertnaturalist, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Barred knifejaw, Japanese parrot fish, Rock bream, Striped oplegnathid, striped beakfish, Striped beakperch

Names in 4 more languages

Spanish: Pez perico rayado
Japanese: Ishidai, イシダイ
Korean: 돌돔
Simplified Chinese: 條石鯛, 海膽鯛, 硬殼仔, 黑嘴

Other scientific names: Hoplognathus fasciatus, Scaradon fasciatus

Similar species

spotted beakfish
Oplegnathus punctatus
Conway
Oplegnathus woodwardi
Natal knifejaw
Oplegnathus robinsoni
Mozambique knifejaw
Oplegnathus peaolopesi

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).
312 open-data records from 1900 to 2024.
Species data updated November 5, 2026.