Adult colouration variable but usually light reddish-grey body, with a slightly humped shoulder, and a dark tail with a fine white outer margin; light coloured juvenile has black lateral stripe with white trim from snout through eye to tail base, and can easily be confused with a cardinalfish.
Information
Max Size: 65 cm
Sea Temperature Range: 22.1-31.5°C
Depth: 1-80 m
Habitat: Coral Reef, Soft sediment
Habitat Generalisation Index: 15.9
Also referred to as the SGI (Species generalisation index), this describes the habitat niche breadth of the species.
Species with values less than 15 are found in a relatively narrow range of reef habitat types (specialists), while those over 25 may be found on most
hard substrates within their range (generalists). Learn more here
Rarity
IUCN Threat Status: Not Evaluated
Occurrence: Frequent (14% of sites)
Occurrence describes how often the species is found on surveys within its distribution.
It is calculated as the % of reef sites surveyed by RLS divers across all the ecoregions in which the species has been observed
Abundance: Few (4 per transect)
Abundance is calculated as the average number of individuals recorded per RLS transect, where present.
Edit by: RD Stuart-Smith, GJ Edgar, AJ Green, IV Shaw. 2015. Tropical Marine Fishes of Australia. Reed New Holland