African spadefish
Tripterodon orbis Playfair, 1867
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
The African spadefish (Tripterodon orbis) is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Ephippidae. This species is found on the reefs along the Indian Ocean coast of Africa east to India and Sri Lanka as far as the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. This species grows to a length of 75 centimetres (30 in) TL. This species is important to local commercial fisheries and is also popular as a game fish. This species is the only known member of genus Tripterodon.
Wikipedia contributors, African spadefish; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T06:38:17.844366+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Tripterodon orbis Playfair, 1867
- Name authority
- Playfair, 1867
- Common name
- African spadefish
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Acanthuriformes
- Family
- Ephippidae
- Genus
- Tripterodon
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Source habitat flags: Marine: yes · Freshwater: no · Terrestrial: no. These do not form a complete habitat description.
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- gigaclassActinopterygii
- superclassActinopteri
- classTeleostei
- orderAcanthuriformes
- familyEphippidae Bleeker, 1859
- genusTripterodon Playfair, 1867
- speciesTripterodon orbis Playfair, 1867
Close classified relatives
No other member of this genus is present in the selected snapshot.
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Tripterodon ornis Playfair, 1867 Playfair, 1867 | synonym |
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- Playfair, R. L., & Günther, A. (1867). The fishes of Zanzibar, with a list of the fishes of the whole east coast of Africa. London., i–xiv + 1–153, Pls. 1–21. Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:58ZDD. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.