Sammara squirrelfish
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An illustration based on the real animal.
A little discovery to share.
Sammara squirrelfish have a red to black spot on each scale.
THE REAL WORLD
The real Sammara squirrelfish
- Scientific name
- Neoniphon sammara
- Japanese name
- ウケグチイットウダイ
- Group
- Ocean animals
- Order
- Beryciformes
- Family
- Holocentridae
- Genus
- Neoniphon
Where the name “Sammara squirrelfish” comes from
Its former English name, Spotfin Squirrelfish, refers to the large dark red spot at the front of its dorsal fin.
Australian MuseumIts lower jaw is longer than its upper jaw, giving it an underbite, which seems to be where its name comes from.
It lives on rocky reefs and mainly on coral reefs, from southern Japan to Taiwan and across the Indian and Pacific Oceans.
How the Sammara squirrelfish lives
It is active at night. It eats small fish, crabs and shrimp. By day, it shelters in or near caves and coral overhangs.
Museums VictoriaBasic data
- Range
- Indo-Pacific including the Red Sea to the Marquesas Islands, and elsewhere
Where the Sammara squirrelfish 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
- ウケグチイットウダイ
- 简体中文
- 条纹长颏鳂
- 繁體中文
- 莎姆新東洋金鱗魚
- Español
- Pez ardilla sammara
- Français
- Écureuil Tacheté
- Deutsch
- Blutfleck-Husar
- Português (Brasil)
- Peixe-esquilo-de-Sammara
- Italiano
- Holocentriformes
- Русский
- Пятнистый пламенщик
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 — ウケグチイットウダイChecked: 2026-11-04
- Australian Museum — Slender Squirrelfish, Neoniphon sammara (Forsskål, 1775)Checked: 2026-11-07
- Museums Victoria — Slender Squirrelfish, Neoniphon sammara (Forsskal 1775)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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