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Six-spine Leatherjacket
Meuschenia freycineti (Quoy & Gaimard, 1824)
A male Six-spine Leatherjacket at a depth of 14 m, Montague Island, New South Wales, January 2000. Photo © E. Schlögl. View larger image.
A developing male Six-spine Leatherjacket at a depth of 14 m, Montague Island, New South Wales, January 2000. Note that the central blotch on the side of the body is starting to become discernible. Photo © E. Schlögl. View larger image.
A male Six-spine Leatherjacket at Shark Point, New South Wales. Photo © Á. Lumntzer.
Front view of a male Six-spine Leatherjacket at a depth of 14 m, Montague Island, New South Wales, January 2000. Photo © E. Schlögl.
Male Six-spine Leatherjackets are usually blue with yellow blotches. There are blue lines and dots on the head and below the dorsal and anal fins.
Females are pale green, yellow or brown and usually have three to five broad brown stripes.
The colour pattern can be variable. Fish across the distribution can look quite different. View images (1, 2) of a fish that does not look like the images to the right. View images of green and yellow juveniles.
Both sexes have five to eight spines on the caudal peduncle, those of male fish are longer.
This species grows to 60 cm in length.
The Six-spine Leatherjacket is endemic to Australia. It occurs in southern Australian waters from northern New South Wales to Western Australia. View images of the head and whole body of a Six-spine Leatherjacket in Port Phillip Bay, Victoria.
Juveniles are found in shallow water, commonly in seagrass beds. Adults are found on coastal and offshore reefs, to depths of 50 m or more.
View a map of the collecting localities of specimens in the Australian Museum Fish Collection.
Related links
- Stars and Stripes Leatherjacket fact sheet
- Yellow-finned Leatherjacket fact sheet
- Yellow-striped Leatherjacket fact sheet
- View the forked dorsal fin spine of a Six-spine Leatherjacket
- View the Six-spine Leatherjacket skull
- View the Leatherjackets list
Further reading
- Edgar, G.J. 1997. Australian Marine Life: the plants and animals of temperate waters. Reed Books. Pp. 544.
- Hutchins, B. & R. Swainston. 1986. Sea Fishes of Southern Australia. Complete Field Guide for Anglers and Divers. Swainston Publishing. Pp. 180.
- Hutchins, J.B. in Gomon, M.F, Glover, C.J.M. & R.H. Kuiter (Eds). 1994. The Fishes of Australia's South Coast. State Print, Adelaide. Pp. 992.
- Kuiter, R.H. 1993. Coastal Fishes of South-Eastern Australia. Crawford House Press. Pp. 437.
- Kuiter, R.H. 1996. Guide to Sea Fishes of Australia. New Holland. Pp. 433.
