SOLITARY ISLANDS
UNDERWATER
RESEARCH GROUP, INC.

Species Index

Dascyllus reticulatus
(Richardson, 1846)

Common Name: Headband Humbug

Distribution: Abundant throughout the Solitary Islands Marine Park. Distributed throughout the Western Pacific Ocean: Cocos-Keeling Islands in the eastern Indian Ocean to Samoa and the Line Islands, north to southern Japan, south to Rowley Shoals (eastern Indian Ocean) and Lord Howe Island. In Australia recorded from around Geraldton in Western Australia across the North West Shelf, from Torres Strait in Queensland south to northern New South Wales and including Lord Howe Island.

Ecological Notes: Small to large groups living amongst branching corals. Depth to at least 50 m.

Additional Notes: Colour variable from cream to light blue, with a violet blue line on upper lip and usually a vertical bar behind head. Feeds on zooplankton in the water column. Benthic spawner with male preparing rock or substrate surface before female deposits eggs. Males guard and aerate the eggs until hatched. Grows to 9 cm.

References: R. Stuart-Smith, G. Edgar, A. Green, I. Shaw, Tropical Marine Fishes of Australia. Reed New Holland Publishers, 2015. p.260.

FishBase. Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2018. World Wide Web electronic publication. https://fishbase.ca/summary/Dascyllus-reticulatus.html. Accessed 23/05/18.