Common Name: Bluefish

Distribution: Uncommon in the Solitary Islands Marine Park. Distributed through the Southwest Pacific: common at Lord Howe Island, Kermadec Island and New Zealand. Rarely seen along the New South Wales coast but recorded from northern New South Wales to the Victorian Border.

Ecological Notes: Frequents shallow areas of high water movement, feeding on benthic alga. Depth shallow to around 15 m at least (I. Shaw personal observation).

Additional Notes: Blue with small gold spots on the sides. Differs from other drummer species in colour, shorter anal fin and scales do not form obvious horizontal rows.  This specimen was one of a pair observed in a school of Silver Drummer, Kyphosus sydneyanus in a shallow surge zone near an offshore island. Grows to 76 cm. 

References: R. Stuart-Smith, G. Edgar, A. Green, I. Shaw, Tropical Marine Fishes of Australia. Reed New Holland Publishers, 2015. p.197.

Atlas of Living Australia website at https://bie.ala.org.au/search?q=girella+cyanea. Accessed 27/05/18.

FishBase. Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2018. World Wide Web electronic publication. https://fishbase.ca/summary/Girella-cyanea.html. Accessed 27/05/18.