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Ocean animals

Pinecone fish

Amazing fact

The pinecone fish can fold its strong pelvic-fin spine into a groove in its belly.

公益財団法人 黒潮生物研究所
Pinecone fish in its habitat (illustration)

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An illustration based on the real animal.

A little discovery to share.

The pinecone fish can fold its strong pelvic-fin spine into a groove in its belly.

Source公益財団法人 黒潮生物研究所 — マツカサウオ

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THE REAL WORLD

The real Pinecone fish

Scientific name
Monocentris japonica
Japanese name
マツカサウオ
Group
Ocean animals
Order
Beryciformes
Family
Monocentridae
Genus
Monocentris
Facts about the real animal.
01

Its Japanese name comes from its resemblance to a pine cone.

鳥羽水族館 — マツカサウオ
02

Its body is covered in hard scales, and it is also called the "armor fish".

鳥羽水族館 — マツカサウオ
03

It has light-producing organs near its lower jaw.

鳥羽水族館 — マツカサウオ

How the Pinecone fish lives

It spends most of its time staying still beneath rocks. It turns its light on and off by expanding and contracting cells containing black pigment.

公益財団法人 黒潮生物研究所沖縄美ら海水族館

Basic data

Range
Indian Ocean to western Pacific Ocean, Red Sea, and elsewhere
鳥羽水族館

Where the Pinecone fish has been recorded

World map with dots where the Pinecone fish has been recorded
Each dot marks a place with observations or specimens shared on GBIF. Some records are of animals that strayed or were brought by people, so the dots are not always where the animal lives.

Records: GBIF.org (CC0 and CC BY 4.0 records, retrieved 2026-11-07). Map: Natural EarthSee the records on GBIF

Where it livesJapanAsiaWorld oceansCoastsOcean

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

简体中文
日本松球鱼
繁體中文
日本松毬魚
한국어
철갑둥어
Português (Brasil)
Peixe-abacaxi-japonês

Names come from Wikidata and iNaturalist records. Where a language has no recorded name, we use the scientific name.

Sources and how we check

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.

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