Parapercis pacifica

Blacktail grubfish | Speckled Sandperch
Parapercis pacifica
Parapercis pacifica, offshore WA, Australia, Photo: Rick Stuart-Smith

Distribution

Tropical Indo-Pacific


Description

Recently split from P. hexopthtalma (Speckled Grubfish), which is now restricted to the Indian Ocean. Pale body with black specks scattered over head and body, indistinct rectangular outlines onbody and large black patch on tail fin. Male with 'm'-shaped or semi-circular markings on lower cheek, and many black spots above. South-East Asia and offshore Western Australia. Best distinguished from P. queenslandica (Blacktail Grubfish) and P. xanthogramma (Pacific Islands) by location.


Information

Max Size: 19 cm

Sea Temperature Range: 21.6-31.2°C

Depth: 0-6m

Habitat Generalization Index: 2.97

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 (6.3% 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: Joe Shields