Colours
Distinguishing features
A small to medium sized and elongate bottom dwelling fish with a whitish-grey body, and a series of fine dark brown lines and blotches running along the flank. The black blotch in the tail is a diagnostic feature.
Size
- Up to 29 cm (Standard length)
Depth range
- Depth range data is not yet available.
Synonyms
Similar taxa
-
Animalia:
species: Parapercis hexophtalma
is now known to be restricted to the Indian Ocean (Irimura and Yoshin, 2007). These authors described a new species, Parapercis queenslandica, for the Queensland species that had, up till then, been identified as Parapercis hexophtalma. - Animalia: Blacktail Grubfish (species: Parapercis pacifica)
Distribution
©Atlas of Living Australia: Australian distribution
Distribution and habitat preferences
Areas of sand, rubble and seagrass adjacent to coral reef areas, most common in sheltered lagoonal habitats.
Can be found in most locations around the island.
Behaviour
The Blacktail Grubfish is a benthic carnivore, taking crustaceans, worms and other invertebrates from the rubble areas that it inhabits. This species is a haremic protogynous hermaphrodite. Males maintain a harem of 2-10 females and mating occurs daily throughout the year, just before dark. Females have territories which they defend from other females, whereas the male territory encompasses all of the females in the harem.
Web resources
References
References that assist with identification
- Imamura, H. and T. Yoshino (2007). Three new species of the genus Parapercis from the western Pacific, with redescription of Parapercis hexophtalma (Perciformes : Pinguipedidae), Bulletin of the National Museum of Nature and Science Series A, Zoology, Supplement 1: 81-100. LIRS catalog number 90203.
Other references
- Caley, M.J. (1995). Community dynamics of tropical reef fishes: local patterns between latitudes, Marine Ecology Progress Series, 129: 7-18. LIRS catalog number 447.
- Caley, M.J. (1995). Reef fish community structure and dynamics: in interaction between local and larger-scale processes? Marine Ecology Progress Series, 129: 19-29. LIRS catalog number 448.
- View all references