---
title: Threadfin breams (Nemipteridae)
scientific_name: Nemipteridae
common_name: Threadfin breams
rank: Family
published: 2024-11-19T18:41:51.573Z
updated: 2026-08-03T21:20:53.809Z
tags: Threadfin breams, Nemipteridae, Red Sea, Marine Life, Diving
url: https://redseacreatures.com/taxon/fishes/bony-fishes/threadfin-breams
---

# Threadfin breams (*Nemipteridae*)

## Quick facts

- **Rank:** Family
- **Scientific name:** Nemipteridae
- **Body shape:** Elongate - Long and slender, but still fish-shaped - trumpetfishes, needlefishes, cornetfishes.
- **Species listed here:** 4

## How to recognise this group

- elongate body, moderately compressed
- silvery, pinkish, or reddish body colours
- often with stripes or spots
- over sandy or rubbly bottoms adjacent to reefs

Threadfin breams, also known as whiptail breams, are marine fishes characterized by an elongated, moderately compressed body. Most display silvery, pinkish, or reddish colouration, often marked with stripes or spots. They possess a single, continuous dorsal fin with 10 spines and 9 soft rays, and an anal fin with 3 spines and 7 or 8 soft rays. Many species have an elongated filament extending from the upper lobe of the caudal fin, a feature that gives them their common name. Adults grow to a total length of 15 cm (6 in) to 38 cm (15 in).

These fishes inhabit sandy or rubbly bottoms adjacent to coral reefs, living at depths from a few meters down to 100 meters (330 ft) in the Red Sea. Individuals are often solitary or found in small groups, though larger schools form occasionally. Their diet primarily consists of benthic invertebrates such as crustaceans, polychaetes, and cephalopods, with some species also consuming small fish and zooplankton. Several species exhibit protogynous hermaphroditism, beginning life as females and later changing sex to male.


## Species (4)

- [Blackstreak Bream (Scolopsis taeniata)](https://redseacreatures.com/taxon/fishes/bony-fishes/threadfin-breams/blackstreak-bream)
- [Dotted Bream (Scolopsis ghanam)](https://redseacreatures.com/taxon/fishes/bony-fishes/threadfin-breams/dotted-bream)
- [Japanese Threadfin Bream (Nemipterus japonicus)](https://redseacreatures.com/taxon/fishes/bony-fishes/threadfin-breams/japanese-threadfin-bream)
- [Whitecheek Monocle Bream (Scolopsis curite)](https://redseacreatures.com/taxon/fishes/bony-fishes/threadfin-breams/whitecheek-monocle-bream)

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*Source: [Red Sea Creatures](https://redseacreatures.com/taxon/fishes/bony-fishes/threadfin-breams)*
*Updated: August 3, 2026*