Tasmanian robust triplefin
species of fish
Forsterygion gymnotum, commonly known as the robust triplefin, Tasmanian robust triplefin, bare-backed triplefin, multifid-tentacled robust triplefin, and the estuarine threefin in Australia is a type of triplefin fish belonging to the genus Forsterygion. It is one of twenty-seven triplefin species native to New Zealand but was first described in Tasmania in 1977 by Eric Oswald Scott.
Description
Forsterygion gymnotum reaches up to 10 cm in length at sexual maturity. It is commonly misidentified as the common triplefin (Forsterygion lapillum) and mottled triplefin (Forsterygion capito) on iNaturalist; however, it can be distinguished by a steeper snout. Forsterygion gymnotum is highly variable in colouration, its head and body ranging from greenish-grey, to dark brown, and black. The upper body has dark brown or black blotches and it is paler ventrally, on the lower half of its body, with white-yellow spots on its lower flanks. Forsterygion gymnotum has light blotches on the base of its tail fin and a white-yellow arc at the base of the pectoral fins on its sides.
Forsterygion gymnotum exhibits some sexual dimorphism between mature males and females, as the head and body of males darkens, causing most of the blotched pattern to recede. The male dorsal and anal fins develop reddish-brown bands that are tipped with blue on the anal fins. The dorsal fins of male F. gymnotum also darken, becoming uniformly black on the largest individuals.
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Datasets, specimens, observations and peer-reviewed methods provide the appropriate test for the technical claims summarized here. The source revision retrieved here is dated Dec 27, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q1815003. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1977.
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This entry incorporates text from “Tasmanian robust triplefin” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.