Blue Fusilier, Beautiful Fusilier, Blue and Gold Fusilier, Yellowback Fusilier, Yellowtail Fusilier
Caesio teres, Naigani Island, Fiji, Photo: Andrew Green
Caesio teres, Torres Strait, QLD, Australia, Photo: Graham Edgar
Caesio teres, Coral Sea, Australia, Photo: Ian Shaw
Distribution
Temperate Australasia, Tropical Indo-Pacific
Description
Silver-blue body with a yellow tail fin and rear body, yellow extends along back for about 2/3 of the body, to almost in line with front of pectoral fin, black spot at base of pectoral fin. Differs C. cuning (Yellowtail Fusilier) by having a more slender body profile and more yellow on back, and from two similar non-fusiliers, Paracaesio xanthura (False Fusilier) and Labracoglossa nitida (Blue Knifefish), by lacking narrow blue line below dorsal fin, and possessing spot at base of pectoral fin.
Information
Max Size: 40 cm
Sea Temperature Range: 21.7-31.4°C
Depth: 5-50m
Habitat: Coral Reef
Habitat Generalisation Index: 9.5
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: Infrequent (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: Large aggregations (102 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
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