Common Name: Spotted Toby

Distribution: Rare in the Solitary Islands Marine Park. Recorded from the Indo-Pacific region: East Africa south to Transkei, South Africa and east to the Line, Marquesan, and Oeno islands, north to southern Japan, south to Lord Howe Island. In Australia recorded from around Exmouth and the North-West Shelf region of Western Australia, the Coral Sea and Great Barrier Reef in Queensland south to Tweed Heads in New South Wales.

Ecological Notes: Frequents clear lagoon and seaward reefs, sheltered areas of sponges and corals. Depth to 30 m. 

Additional Notes: Orange-brown in colour with numerous close-set blue-green spots on head and body and lines radiating from eyes. A dark ocellus sometimes present at base of dorsal fin, the fins are largely unmarked. Feeds on sponges, polychaete worms, filamentous algae, ascidians, crustaceans, echinoderms and corals. Grows to 9 cm.

References: John E. Randall, Gerald R. Allen, Roger C. Steene, Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea, second Edition, 1997. Published by Crawford House Publishing Pty Ltd. p. 476.

Atlas of Living Australia website at https://bie.ala.org.au/search?q=Canthigaster+janthinoptera. Accessed 08/09/2022.

FishBase. Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2018. World Wide Web electronic publication. https://www.fishbase.ca/summary/summary/Canthigaster-janthinoptera.html. Accessed 08/09/2022.