Xanthichthys mento, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador, Photo: Graham Edgar
Xanthichthys mento, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador, Photo: Graham Edgar
Distribution
Tropical Eastern Pacific, Tropical Indo-Pacific
Description
Males yellow with black scale outlines creating a crosshatched pattern, a red tail with a bright blue sub-marginal line and 5 blue stripes on cheek. Females with crosshatch pattern but with blue to slate grey base colour and tail. Found in schools above outer-reefs and drop-offs, or around oceanic islands.
Information
Max Size: 29 cm
Sea Temperature Range: 20.6-29.8°C
Depth: 6-131m
Habitat: Coral Reef
Habitat Generalisation Index: 6.9
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
Threats: Exploitation, Habitat degradation
IUCN Threat Status: Least Concern
Occurrence: Frequent (18% 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: Several (7 per transect)
Abundance is calculated as the average number of individuals recorded per RLS transect, where present.
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