Pterocaesio tile, Aceh, Indonesia, Photo: Ian Shaw
Pterocaesio tile, Red Phase, Photo: Rick Stuart-Smith
Pterocaesio tile, (Night Phase) Indonesia, Photo: Rick Stuart-Smith
Pterocaesio tile, Coral Sea, QLD, Photo: Andrew Green
Distribution
Tropical Indo-Pacific
Description
Broad iridescent blue stripe from snout to either mid body or tail with thin dark yellow/brown stripe above from tail base to behind gill cover. Black stripes along upper and lower tail lobes, dark crosshatched scale pattern on upper body, pinkish belly and a black spot at pectoral fin base. Belly and entire body below lateral line can rapidly to red, usually in this form at night but sometimes seen during daylight hours.
Information
Max Size: 30 cm
Sea Temperature Range: 23.4-31.3°C
Depth: 1-60m
Habitat: Coral Reef
Habitat Generalisation Index: 15.8
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: Frequent (16% 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 (106 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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