---
title: "Common Triplefin"
description: "Forsterygion lapillum — Fische. The common triplefin (Forsterygion lapillum) is a small blennioid fish of the family Tripterygiidae."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/de/animal/common-triplefin
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Common Triplefin

> Forsterygion lapillum — Fische. The common triplefin (Forsterygion lapillum) is a small blennioid fish of the family Tripterygiidae.

- Scientific name: *Forsterygion lapillum*
- Category: `fish` (Fische)
- Habitats: `sea` (Meer & Küste)
- iNaturalist observations: 1782
- Wikidata: [Q2199666](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2199666)
- iNaturalist taxon: [410520](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/410520)

## Names

- en: Common Triplefin

## Countries with the most observations

NZ (1700), AU (13)

## Summary

The common triplefin (Forsterygion lapillum) is a small blennioid fish of the family Tripterygiidae. It is one of 26 endemic species of triplefin found in New Zealand across 14 genera. This species is very common in the temperate coastal and intertidal waters of New Zealand where it often lives in cobble habitats, but has been found as deep as 30 m. It has a maximum body length of around 70 mm and lives for up to three years.
Common triplefins are generally opportunistic predators, eating mostly amphipods, ostracods, limpets, and polychaetes. Males will aggressively defend their territory during the breeding season…

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_triplefin

## Photo

![Common Triplefin](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/common-triplefin/medium.jpg)

Photo: Phil · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/348021956

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/common-triplefin?lang=de` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).