Common Name: Coral Sea Gregory

Distribution: Abundant in the Solitary Islands Marine Park. Known only from the east Australian coast In Australia recorded from the Coral Sea and Great Barrier Reef from central Queensland south to around Wollongong in New South Wales and including Lord Howe Island.

Ecological Notes: Frequents coral and rocky reef, exposed reef fronts, often in strong surge areas. Depth 1 – 30 m.

Additional Notes: Usually dusky colour with yellow belly, yellow pectoral, pelvic and anal fins. Small blue spot at pectoral fin base. Feeds on zooplankton and detritus in the water column. Distinct pairing during breeding, eggs adhere to the substrate. Males aerate and guard the eggs, which are often preyed upon by wrasses and other fish. Similar looking Plectroglyphidodon apicalis lacks the yellow belly and has yellow margin to dorsal and top lobe of tail fin. Grows to 15 cm.

References: R. Stuart-Smith, G. Edgar, A. Green, I. Shaw, Tropical Marine Fishes of Australia. Reed New Holland Publishers, 2015. p.282.

Atlas of Living Australia website at https://bie.ala.org.au/search?q=stegastes+apicalis Accessed 27/08/23

FishBase. Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2018. World Wide Web electronic publication. https://fishbase.ca/summary/Stegastes-gascoynei.html. Accessed 09/07/18.