Symphorichthys spilurus
Sailfin Snapper | Blue And Gold Striped Snapper | Blue-lined Seabream | Blue-lined Seaperch
Symphorichthys spilurus, North WA, Australia, Photo: Rick Stuart-Smith
Symphorichthys spilurus, WA, Australia, Photo: Graham Edgar
Symphorichthys spilurus, North WA, Australia, Photo: Andrew Green
Symphorichthys spilurus, Sulawesi, Indonesia, Photo: Ian Shaw
Similar Species
Distribution
Tropical Indo-Pacific
Description
Very steep head profile, and body tapering outwards, with highest part just before start of tail base. Dorsal fin with several long trailing filaments. Body yellow with blue horizontal stripes, white-edged black spot on tail base, and two vertical brown/orange bars on head, one through eyes and one just behind head. Should not be eaten because of risk of ciguatera poisoning. Black spot on tail base and bars on head distinguish it from juveniles of Symphorus nematophorus (Chinamanfish).
Information
Max Size: 60 cm
Sea Temperature Range: 24-31.3°C
Depth: 5-60m
Habitat Generalization Index: 0.26
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 (2.8% 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: RD Stuart-Smith, GJ Edgar, AJ Green, IV Shaw. 2015. Tropical Marine Fishes of Australia. Reed New Holland