Dybowski's prickleback

Amazing fact

The dorsal fin of Dybowski’s prickleback extends along its whole back.

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Dybowski's prickleback in its habitat (illustration)

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An illustration based on the real animal.

A little discovery to share.

The dorsal fin of Dybowski’s prickleback extends along its whole back.

SourceМузей ННЦМБ ДВО РАН — Безногий опистоцентр

THE REAL WORLD

The real Dybowski's prickleback

Scientific name: Pholidapus dybowskii
Japanese name: ムロランギンポ
Group: Ocean animals

Order: Perciformes
Family: Stichaeidae
Genus: Pholidapus

Facts about the real animal.

It lives along the coasts of Hokkaido, the Sea of Japan coast from Korea to the Strait of Tartary, Sakhalin, the Sea of Okhotsk and the Kuril Islands.

鳥羽水族館 — ムロランギンポ

It grows large, and some have dark blotches on the front of the dorsal fin.

鳥羽水族館 — ムロランギンポ

How the Dybowski's prickleback lives

It lives near the bottom in shallow water among kelp, seagrasses and other aquatic plants. It lays eggs toward the end of the year. In spring, its larvae appear among the plankton.

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Basic data

Size: Body length: up to 50 cm
Range: Sea of Japan coast, eastern Sakhalin, northern Sea of Okhotsk, Kuril Islands, and elsewhere

鳥羽水族館

Where the Dybowski's prickleback has been recorded

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

Where it livesHokkaido Japan Asia Coasts

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: ムロランギンポ
简体中文: 穴栖线鳚
繁體中文: 穴棲線䲁
Русский: Опистоцентр Дыбовского

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

Sources and how we check

鳥羽水族館 — ムロランギンポChecked: 2026-11-04
Музей ННЦМБ ДВО РАН — Безногий опистоцентрChecked: 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.

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