Family: Rabbitfishes - Siganidae
Maximum Size: 29cm
Identification: Greenish to yellow-brown with numerous bluish white spots (change to mottled pattern when resting on bottom); often dark spot behind upper gill opening.
Favourite: Form aggregations.
Hide-out: Most common on seagrass flats to 4m.
Location: Indo-Asian Pacific - Arabian Gulf to S. China Sea and Taiwan, south to Great Barrier Reef.
White-Spotted Rabbitfish
Whiteband Damsel
Scientific Name: Plectroglyphidodon leucozonus
Family: Damselfishes - Pomacentridae
Maximum Size: 10cm
Identification: Brown with white bar across mid-body; rear edge of gill cover often dark, black spot on upper pectoral fin base.
Favourite: Solitary or form loose groups.
Hide-out: Rocky shores and reef flats exposed to wave action to 4m.
Location: Indo-Pacific - Red Sea and E. Africa to Micronesia and Pitcaim Is. east of French Polynesia. S.W. Japn to Australia.
Eclipse Butterflyfish
Family: Butterflyfish - Chaetodontidae
Maximum Size: 18cm
Description: Bright yellow; large blue-edged black spot on middle of back, pair of diagonal blue lines on lower body.
Favourite: Solitary or in pairs.
Hide-out: Coral-rich areas of lagoons and on outer reefs in 5-30m.
Location: Indo-Pacific - E. Africa, Maldives, Indonesia, Philippines and New Guinea to French Polynesia. S.W. Japan to Great Barrier Reef and Lord Howe I.
Johnston Damsel
Scientific Name: Plectroglyphidodon johnstonianus
Family: Damselfishes - Pomacentridae
Maximum Size: 9cm
Identification: Yellowish tan, head often with bluish hue; broad, black bar across rear body.
Favourite: Solitary or form loose groups.
Hide-out: Often associated with Acropora and Pocillopora branching corals in passages and outer reef slopes in 2-12m.
Location: Indo-Pacific - E. Africa to Hawaii and Pitcaim Is., east of french Polynesia. S.W. Japan to E. Australia.
Virgate Rabbitfish
Family: Rabbitfishes - Siganidae
Maximum Size: 30cm
Identification: Yellow upper body with pale blue spots, white lower body, tail yellow; pair of dark bands on head and forebody.
Favourite: Form small to large groups.
Hide-out: Usually inshore coastal reefs, often in turbid water to 12m.
Location: Indo-Asian Pacific - India to Irian Jaya in E. Indonesia. S.W. Japan and Philippines to N. Australia.
Jewel Damsel
Scientific Name: Plectroglyphidodon lacrymatus
Family: Damselfishes - Pomacentridae
Maximum Size: 10cm
Identification: Brown with black scale margins, often gradating to tan or whitish on rear body and tail; small blue spots scattered on head and body.
Favourite: Solitary or form loose groups.
Hide-out: Lagoons and outer reefs in 2-12m.
Location: Indo-Pacific - E. Africa to Marshall Is. in Micronesia and French Polynesia. S.W. Japan to E. Australia.
Pinnate Spadefish
Family: Spadefish - Ephippidae
Maximum Size: 37cm
Identification: Silver; black eye bar and a second bar through pectoral and onto ventral fin; distinctive protruding snout. Young adults have a single wide dusky bar on rear body.
Favourite: Usually solitary.
Hide-out: Coastal reefs and seaward slopes in 2-25m.
Location: West Pacific - Sumatra in Indonesia to Solomon Is., Vanuatu and Fiji. S.W. Japan to N. Australia and New Caledonia.
Blackbar Damsel
Scientific Name: Plectroglyphidodon dickii
Family: Damselfishes - Pomacentridae
Maximum Size: 11cm
Identification: Tan with fine dark scale margins, white rear body and tail, pectoral fins have yellow hue; a narrow black bar across rear body.
Favourite: Solitary or form loose groups.
Hide-out: Coral-rich areas of lagoons and outer reefs to 12m.
Location: Indo-Pacific - E. Africa to Line Is. and French Polynesia. S.W. Japan to Australia.
Lined Rabbitfish
Family: Rabbitfishes - Siganidae
Maximum Size: 35cm
Identification: Pale gray with wavy orange lines, occasionally breaking into spots; large yellow spot below rear base of dorsal fin.
Favourite: Form large schools.
Hide-out: Lagoons, coastal reefs and mangroves to 25m.
Location: Indo-Asian Pacific - Maldives and Sri Lanka to Vanuatu. Borin Is. in S. Japan to N.W. Australia, S. Great Barrier Reef and New Caledonia.
Reticulated Dascyllus
Scientific Name: Dascyllus reticulatus
Family: Damselfishes - Pomacentridae
Maximum Size: 8cm
Identification: White to tan with diffuse black bar behind head, often rear body and tail dusky; usually small blue sppots on head; black margin on dorsal fin.
Hide-out: Shelter within branching corals on inshore and outer reefs to 50m.
Location: Indo-Pacific - Cocos-Keeling Is. to Indonesia, Samoa and Line Is. in eastern Central Pacific. S.W. Japan to N.W. and E. Australia.
Dotted Butterflyfish
Family: Butterflyfish - Chaetodontidae
Maximum Size: 24cm
Description: Yellow with horizontal rows of small black spots; blue marking on rear snout and nape; dorsal fin trails a thread-like filament.
Favourite: Usually in pairs.
Hide-out: Coral-rich areas of lagoons and outer slopes in 2-50m.
Location: Indo-Pacific - Sri-Lanka to Indonesia, New Guinea, Philippines, Micronesia and Polynesia. S.W. Japan to Great Barrier Reef.
Indian Dascyllus
Scientific Name: Dascyllus cameus
Family: Damselfishes - Pomacentridae
Maximum Size: 7cm
Identification: Tan head, white body with diffuse black bar between; broad black margin on dorsal fin.
Favourite: Form groups; shelter within branching corals when threatened.
Hide-out: Inshore and outer reefs in 5-35m.
Location: Indian Ocean - E. Africa to Andaman Sea and Java Sea in Indonesia.
Coral Rabbitfish
Family: Rabbitfishes - Siganidae
Maximum Size: 25cm
Identification: Yellow-orange undercolor with numerous blue spots; darkish eye bar, may display pattern of dark smudges on back.
Favourite: Juvenile - Form small schools in shallow seagrass beds. Adults - In pairs.
Hide-out: Coral-rich areas to 18m.
Location: Indo-West Pacific - Seychelles to New Caledonia. S.W. Japan to S. Great Barrier Reef.
Orangefin Dascyllus
Scientific Name: Dascyllus auripinnis
Family: Damselfishes - Pomacentridae
Maximum Size: 14cm
Identification: Bright orange ventral, anal, and tail fins, and yellow orange hue on lower body.
Favourite: Usually form groups near anemones.
Hide-out: Coral and rocky reefs in 3-45m.
Location: Line and Phoenix Is. in Central Pacific.
Golden Angelfish
Family: Angelfish - Pomacanthidae
Maximum Size: 10cm
Identification: Orange (brown in Sulawesi, Indonesia and Solomon Is.) with rippled bars; blackish ring around eye.
Favourite: Unusually shy species, seldom venture far from coastal shelter.
Hide-out: Coral-rich areas in 3-20m.
Location: West Pacific - N.E. Sulawesi in Indonesia to N. New Guinea, Solomon Is. and Samoa. Micronesia to N. Great Barrier Reef.
Three-Spot Dascyllus
Scientific Name: Dascyllus trimaculatus
Family: Damselfishes - Pomacentridae
Maximum Size: 14cm
Identification: Gray with black scale edges, fins dark except rear dorsal; occasionally a suffusion of yellow or orange on head and breast.
Favourite: Usually form groups.
Hide-out: Coral and rocky reefs to 55m.
Location: Indo-Pacific - Red Sea and E. Africa to Line Is. and French Polynesia (absent Hawaii and Marquesas Is).
Gold-Spotted Rabbitfish
Family: Rabbitfishes - Siganidae
Maximum Size: 30cm
Identification: Pale brown to blue with pattern of close-set dark-edged brown to orange spots; may display pale saddle on tail base, large dark spot behind gill cover.
Favourite: In pairs.
Hide-out: Coral areas in 1-40m.
Location: East Indo-West Pacific - Cocos-Keeling Is. to Sumatra in Indonesia, Micronesia and Samoa. S.W. Japan to W.&E. Australia and New Caledonia.
Ocellated Damsel
Family: Damselfishes - Pomacentridae
Maximum Size: 13cm
Identification: Dark brown; blue ocellated spot on mid-dorsal fin base and a second below last dorsal rays; large adults sometimes lose these spots.
Hide-out: Among rocks and corals of shoreline reefs, often in turbid conditions to 20m.
Location: Indo-Asian Pacific - Sri Lanka and Andaman Sea to Sumatra, Java and Komodo I. in Indonesia.
Dot & Dash Butterflyfish
Family: Butterflyfish - Chaetodontidae
Maximum Size: 12.5cm
Description: Yellowish tan with diagonal rows of dark spots becoming solid bands on upper body; orange eye bar, black spot on nape.
Favourite: Usually in pairs, sometimes with Spot-banded Butterflyfish (occasionally hybridize).
Hide-out: Outer reefs to 30m.
Location: Pacific - Indonesia, Philippines, Micronesia to Line Is. in eastern Central Pacific. N. Philippines to N.W. & E. Australia.
Multispine Damsel
Family: Damselfishes - Pomacentridae
Maximum Size: 14cm
Identification: Adult gray-brown with yellowish pectoral fins; sub-adult (pictured) blue with dark scale outlines; yellow belly.
Favourite: Solitary or form groups.
Hide-out: Coral and rocky reefs in 2-30m.
Location: Southwestern Pacific - S. Great Barrier Reef, New Caledonia, Lord Howe and Norfolk Is.
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