Variola louti

Lyre-tail cod | Common Lyre-tail Cod | Coronation Trout | Lunar-tail Cod | Lunar-tailed Coral-trout | Lyre Tail Coral Trout | Lyretail Grouper | Yellow-edged Lyretail
Variola louti
Variola louti, adult, Photo: Rick Stuart-Smith
Variola louti
Variola louti, adult, Maldives, Photo: Rick Stuart-Smith
Variola louti
Variola louti, juvenile, Red Sea, Photo: Rick Stuart-Smith
Variola louti
Variola louti, juvenile, Tulamben, Bali, Indonesia, Photo: Ian Shaw
Variola louti
Variola louti, adult, Tulamben, Bali, Indonesia, Photo: Ian Shaw
Variola louti
Variola louti, adult, Bali, Indonesia, Photo: Ian Shaw
Variola louti
Variola louti, juvenile, NSW, Australia, Photo: Ian Shaw
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Variola louti
Variola louti
Variola louti
Variola louti
Variola louti
Variola louti
Variola louti

Distribution

Tropical Indo-Pacific


Description

Variable colouration from dark red to pale grey, dense covering of small blue spots, stripe from bottom lip between eyes to dorsal fin, crescent-shaped tail with broad yellow rear margin, as well as anal and dorsal fins; juvenile has large black spot at tail base, blue-spotted three-zone body: white belly, black midline, olive back. Adults distinguished from V. albimarginata (White-edge Coronation Trout) by broad yellow rear tail margin.


Information

Max Size: 83 cm

Sea Temperature Range: 20-30.7°C

Depth: 3-300 m

Habitat Generalization Index: 6.49

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: Least Concern

Occurrence: Infrequent (7.8% 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: Solitary (1 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