Common Name: Smooth Flutemouth

Distribution: Common in the Solitary Islands Marine Park. Distributed throughout the Indo-Pacific region, from the Red Sea and East Africa to Rapa and Easter Island, north to southern Japan, south to Australia and New Zealand. In Australia recorded from Shark Bay on the northern coast of Western Australia, across the north to Torres Strait, the Coral Sea and Great Barrier Reef south to the Victorian border and including Lord Howe Island.

Ecological Notes: Adults frequent reef habitats and sandy bottoms adjacent to reef, juveniles in seagrass beds and estuaries. Depth to at least 128 m.

Additional Notes: Vertically flattened body with long whiplike tail filament. Pale green dorsally, fading to silvery white on the belly, adults with two rows of blue spots or blue stripes on the back.  Feed on small fishes, crustaceans and squid. Grows to 160 cm.

References: Kuiter, R. H., Coastal Fishes of South-Eastern Australia. Published by Crawford House Press Pty. Ltd., 1993. p.80.

Atlas of Living Australia website at https://bie.ala.org.au/search?q=Fistularia+commersonii. Accessed 13/05/18.

FishBase. Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2018. World Wide Web electronic publication. https://bie.ala.org.au/search?q=Fistularia+commersonii. Accessed 13/05/18.