Threadsail filefish
Amazing fact
Threadsail filefish blast water from their mouths to uncover prey hidden in sand.
名古屋港水族館
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An illustration based on the real animal.
A little discovery to share.
Threadsail filefish blast water from their mouths to uncover prey hidden in sand.
THE REAL WORLD
The real Threadsail filefish
- Scientific name
- Stephanolepis cirrhifer
- Japanese name
- カワハギ
- Group
- Ocean animals
- Order
- Tetraodontiformes
- Family
- Monacanthidae
- Genus
- Stephanolepis
A fish of the seas around Japan that lives on sandy seafloors that are not very deep. Its diamond-shaped body and the spine on its dorsal fin are its trademarks.
Its skin is thick and rough like sandpaper. People peel off the skin when cooking it, and this is said to be how it got the name kawahagi, meaning 'skin peeler'.
It swims by rippling its dorsal and anal fins like waves. It eats crustaceans, shellfish, marine worms and more.
How the Threadsail filefish lives
They can deftly remove bait from fishing hooks.
名古屋港水族館Basic data
- Size
- Total length: 25 cm
- Diet
- Crustaceans, shellfish, ragworms, and other animals
- Range
- Sea of Japan and Pacific coasts from Aomori to southern Kyushu, and the Seto Inland Sea
Where the Threadsail filefish has been recorded
Records: GBIF.org (CC0 and CC BY 4.0 records, retrieved 2026-11-07). Map: Natural EarthSee the records on GBIF
Watch wild animals from a distance. Do not touch or feed them, and take care of the places where they live.
Names around the world
- 日本語
- カワハギ
- 简体中文
- 丝背细鳞鲀
- 繁體中文
- 絲背冠鱗單棘魨
- 한국어
- 쥐치
- Português (Brasil)
- Peixe-porco-do-norte
Names come from Wikidata and iNaturalist records. Where a language has no recorded name, we use the scientific name.
Sources and how we check
- 葛西臨海水族園 — カワハギChecked: 2026-11-03
- 名古屋港水族館 — 日本の海【カワハギ】Checked: 2026-11-07
We check each fact against its source. The illustrations simplify how the real animal looks.
The classification (class, order, family, genus) follows Wikidata records, checked against GBIF. Classifications can change as research goes on.
The basic data are the values given in each source. They vary with how the animal is measured, whether it is male or female, and whether it lives in the wild or in captivity.
This page was translated from the original Japanese with the help of AI.
Report a mistakeWhen you meet the Threadsail filefish, look for this
- Look for its small, pursed mouth.
Animals do different things from day to day, so you may not always see this.
名古屋港水族館EXHIBIT INFORMATION
Places that keep or show the Threadsail filefish
Zoos, aquariums and other places whose official websites say they keep or show this animal.
Kanto
Displays can change with the animals’ health and the seasons. Check each facility’s official website before you go.
RELATIVES
Others in Monacanthidae
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