Colourful species with blue, green, black and yellow markings on the head and body, and characteristic horseshoe-shaped marks on the sides. It often co-occurs on reefs with the yellowstriped leatherjacket in the east and the bluelined leatherjacket in the west. Horseshoe leatherjackets are inquisitive and regularly swim up to divers; however, if threatened they retreat into caves.

Juveniles may completely lack the dark markings - see photo. Confirm ID by shape, presence of skin filaments, location and presence of adults.

• Max Size: 51 cm
• Sea Temperature Range: 11.8-22.8°C
• Depth: 3-18m
• Habitat: Rocky Reef
• Habitat Generalisation Index: 8.6
  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

• IUCN Threat Status: Least Concern
• Occurrence: Widespread (50% 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.