Common Name: Goldsaddle Goatfish

Distribution: Uncommon in the Solitary Islands Marine Park. Distributed throughout the Indo-Pacific region: from the Red Sea and east coast of Africa, east to the Hawaiian Islands, north to Ryuku Islands, south to Australia. In Australia recorded from around Shark Bay in Western Australia, across the tropical north, including in the Gulf of Carpentaria, the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea, south to northern New South Wales and including Lord Howe Island.

Ecological Notes: Frequents lagoons and seaward reefs, coral, rocky and rubble substrate. Depth to 125 m.

Additional Notes: Large adults yellowish grey with bright blue scale edges and blue lines radiating from the eye. Dorsal, anal and caudal fin have bright blue horizontal lines, and there is a yellowish patch above the caudal peduncle. Has more elongated barbels than other members of the genus. Juveniles usually in small schools and coloured bright yellow. Juvenile specimen in photograph around 10 cm in length and swimming very closely to unrelated Hologymnosus annulatus for cover or protection. Feed primarily on small fishes, crustaceans and small gastropods. Grows to 50 cm. 

References: R. Stuart-Smith, G. Edgar, A. Green, I. Shaw, Tropical Marine Fishes of Australia. Reed New Holland Publishers, 2015. p.188.

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

FishBase. Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2018. World Wide Web electronic publication. http://fishbase.ca/summary/Parupeneus-cyclostomus.html. Accessed 13/05/18.