Sharpbeak terapon

Amazing fact

The sharpbeak terapon can make grunting sounds by contracting its swim bladder.

男鹿水族館GAO

Sharpbeak terapon in its habitat (illustration)

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An illustration based on the real animal.

A little discovery to share.

The sharpbeak terapon can make grunting sounds by contracting its swim bladder.

Source男鹿水族館GAO — シマイサキ

THE REAL WORLD

The real Sharpbeak terapon

Scientific name: Rhynchopelates oxyrhynchus
Japanese name: シマイサキ
Group: Ocean animals

Order: Perciformes
Family: Terapontidae
Genus: Rhynchopelates

Facts about the real animal.

Where the name “Sharpbeak terapon” comes from

Its Japanese name is said to come from its body shape and stripes resembling those of young isaki fish.

男鹿水族館GAO

It lives along the coasts of Japan and on to the coasts of Korea, China and Taiwan.

鳥羽水族館 — シマイサキ

It has several black, band-like stripes along its side.

鳥羽水族館 — シマイサキ

How the Sharpbeak terapon lives

When young, it lives in schools in eelgrass beds where sea and fresh water mix. It eats bristle worms, crustaceans and small fish. In summer, young fish swim upstream into fresh water.

公益財団法人四万十川財団男鹿水族館GAO

Basic data

Range: Seto Inland Sea, Kume Island, southern and eastern Korea, Jeju, Chinese coast, Hainan, Taiwan, Luzon, northern Sulawesi, and elsewhere

鳥羽水族館

Where the Sharpbeak terapon 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 livesJapan 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: シマイサキ
简体中文: 尖吻鯻
繁體中文: 尖突吻鯻
한국어: 줄벤자리
Русский: Острорылый пятнистый терапон

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 — シマイサキChecked: 2026-11-04
男鹿水族館GAO — シマイサキChecked: 2026-11-07
公益財団法人四万十川財団 — 四万十川の魚１１１シマイサキ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.

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