Plectorhinchus picus

Magpie sweetlips | Black And White Sweetlips | Dotted Sweetlips | Painted Sweetlips | Spotted Sweetlips | Spotted Thicklip | Plectorhynchus picus
Plectorhinchus picus
Plectorhinchus picus, juvenile, NSW, Australia, Photo: Ian Shaw
Plectorhinchus picus
Plectorhinchus picus, juvenile, Marion Reef, Coral Sea, Photo: Antonia Cooper
Plectorhinchus picus
Plectorhinchus picus, juvenile, NSW, Australia, Photo: Ian Shaw
Plectorhinchus picus
Plectorhinchus picus, adult, NSW, Australia, Photo: Ian Shaw
Plectorhinchus picus
Plectorhinchus picus, Lord Howe Is, NSW, Photo: Andrew Green
Plectorhinchus picus
Plectorhinchus picus, adult, Chilcott Islet, Coral Sea, Photo: Graham Edgar
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Plectorhinchus picus
Plectorhinchus picus
Plectorhinchus picus
Plectorhinchus picus
Plectorhinchus picus
Plectorhinchus picus

Distribution

Temperate Australasia, Tropical Indo-Pacific


Description

Fine red/brown spots over body and fins, dark bar along upper edge of operculum, and yellow on upper eye. Juvenile with white belly, black upper body, two neat, large white saddles, white snout, and spotted rear fins. Dark bar on rear of operculum distinguishes it from other spotted sweetlips P. flavomaculatus (Goldspotted Sweetlips), which also has gold spots, and P. chaetodontoides (Spotted Sweetlips), which has black spots.


Information

Max Size: 84 cm

Sea Temperature Range: 19.1-29.9°C

Depth: 3-50m

Habitat Generalization Index: 16.77

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.


Conservation and Rarity

IUCN Status: Not Evaluated

Occurrence: Infrequent (7.9% 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 (2 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