Common Name: Spangled Emperor
Distribution: Common in the Solitary Islands Marine Park. Distributed throughout the Indo-West Pacific region: from the Red Sea, Persian Gulf and East Africa to southern Japan and Samoa. In Australia recorded from around Geraldton in Western Australia across the tropical north to Torres Strait, the Coral Sea and Great Barrier Reef in Queensland to southern New South Wales, and including Lord Howe Island.
Ecological Notes: Frequents coral reef, coralline lagoons, seagrass beds and mangrove swamps. Adults solitary or small schools, juveniles form large schools in sheltered waters. Depth from 10 – 75 m.
Additional Notes: Two pale streaks on cheek, prominent scales, lacks the orange-red patch at the base of the pectoral fin as in similar looking Lethrinus miniatus. Carnivorous preying on echinoderms, molluscs, crustaceans and to a lesser extent, small fish. G rows to 95 cm.
References: R. Stuart-Smith, G. Edgar, A. Green, I. Shaw, Tropical Marine Fishes of Australia. Reed New Holland Publishers, 2015. p.181.
Atlas of Living Australia website at https://bie.ala.org.au/search?q=lethrinus+nebulosus. Accessed 04/06/18.
FishBase. Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2018. World Wide Web electronic publication. https://fishbase.ca/summary/Lethrinus-nebulosus.html. Accessed 04/06/18.