Large eye, black spot behind top corner of opercle, white-tipped dorsal and anal fin lobes, dark scutes, males often jet black when swimming paired with females. Forms large schools which circle in mid-water near jetties, bommies and isolated reefs during the day and hunt close to the reef at night.
Information
Max Size: 120 cm
Sea Temperature Range: 19.5-31.5°C
Depth: 0-146m
Habitat: Coral Reef, Open ocean
Habitat Generalisation Index: 8.2
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
Threats: Exploitation
IUCN Threat Status: Least Concern
Occurrence: Infrequent (4% 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: Many (55 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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