Kyphosus vaigiensis
Brassy drummer | Blue-Bronze Chub | Brassy Chub | Brassy Rudderfish | Golden Chub | Large-tailed Drummer | Lowfin Chub | Lowfin Drummer | Lowfinned Rudderfish | Northern Silver Drummer | Queensland Drummer | Waigeu Drummer | Yellow Chub | Kyphosus analogus | Kyphosus incisor
Kyphosus vaigiensis, adult, Lord Howe Island, NSW, Australia, Photo: Rick Stuart-Smith
Kyphosus vaigiensis, juvenile, Elizabeth Reef, NSW, Australia, Photo: Graham Edgar
Kyphosus vaigiensis, adult, Osprey Reef, Coral Sea, Photo: Graham Edgar
Kyphosus vaigiensis, Lord Howe Is, NSW, Photo: Andrew Green
Kyphosus vaigiensis, North WA, Australia, Photo: Andrew Green
Similar Species
Distribution
Tropical Indo-Pacific
Description
Gold/orange \'moustache\' and rear margin of operculum, golden scales forming horizontal stripes on side. Juveniles with mottled dark/light patches. Often joins in mixed schools with other drummer. Best distinguished from similar K. sydneyanus by lighter (gold rather than grey/black) upper margin of the operculum, and general similarity of tail colour from base to end (K. sydneyanus has lighter base portion of tail and dark end). K. incisor and K. analogus are both now also considered to be this species.
Information
Max Size: 70 cm
Sea Temperature Range: 18.7-31.2°C
Depth: 1-24m
Habitat Generalization Index: 3.5
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.
Conservation and Rarity
IUCN Status: Not Evaluated
Occurrence: Infrequent (4.5% 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: Several (9 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