©Lyle Vail: Pterocaesio digramma in near-daytime colouration at night, Big Vicki's Reef, Lizard Island.
Colours
Distinguishing features
A small to medium sized elongate blue fish with a forked tail. Two thin gold lines run horizontally along the body, and the lateral line is above the lower line for most of its length. The tail has a dark blotch at the end of each caudal lobe. Usually seen in schools feeding mid-water above areas of good coral growth.
Size
- Up to 25 cm (Standard length)
Depth range
- Depth range data is not yet available.
Synonyms
Similar taxa
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Animalia:
Bigtail Fusilier (species: Pterocaesio marri)
Lower yellow stripe covers the lateral line, except on caudal peduncle (Allen and Erdmann, 2012).
Distribution
©Atlas of Living Australia: Australian distribution
Distribution and habitat preferences
Feeds in the water column some 5-15m from the edge of the reef margin, favours areas with good water movement. Smaller fish are found in more sheltered areas with the large adults mainly along the exposed reef fronts.
Found in most reef habitats around the island.
Behaviour
This species is planktivorous, gathering into schools to feed on tiny crustacean zooplankton in the water column. The small juveniles aggregate with schools of yellow-tailed demoiselles, but then move into monospecific schools of their own species once they gain size. They are mature at 1 year of age and live to about 5 years.
Web resources
References
- Ablan, C.M.A.A. (2006). Microsatellite loci for studies on population differentiation and connectivity of the red-bellied yellow tail fusilier, Caesio cuning (Caesionidae), Molecular Ecology Notes, 6: 170-172. LIRS catalog number 90031.
- Carpenter, K.E. (1990). A phylogenetic analysis of the Caesionidae (Perciformes: Lutjanoidea), Copeia, 1990: 692-717. LIRS catalog number 90032.