Common Name: Mimic Surgeonfish

Distribution: Not commonly seen in Solitary Islands Marine Park. Ranges through Islands of Oceania to Western Pacific. In Australia recorded from locations off the North West Shelf in Western Australia, through the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland, south to northern New South Wales.

Ecological Notes: Frequents rocky and coral reefs around outer islands in the Solitary Islands Marine Park. Feeds on zooplankton and algae.

Additional Notes: The photograph shows a juvenile mimicking Centropyge vrolikii. Juveniles may exhibit three colour patterns – yellow, yellow with blue markings or as photographed. The lack of a spine on the preoperculum identifies it as surgeonfish rather than the angelfish it is mimicking. Length to 25cm. 

References: R. Stuart-Smith, G. Edgar, A. Green, I. Shaw, Tropical Marine Fishes of Australia. Reed New Holland Publishers, 2015. p.428.