Common Name: Spinyhead Cardinalfish

Distribution: Uncommon in the Solitary Islands Marine Park. Distributed throughout the Indo-Pacific region: from the Red Sea and South Africa east to the Line, Marquesan and Pitcairn Islands, north to southern Japan and the Hawaiian Islands, south to Rapa and New Zealand. In Australia recorded from the Exmouth and North West Shelf region of Western Australia, the Coral Sea and Great Barrier Reef in Queensland, south to northern New South Wales, and including Lord Howe Island.

Ecological Notes: Frequents clear water lagoons, patch reefs and seaward reefs from the lower surge zone to a depth of 45 m.

Additional Notes: Yellow anterior margin on dorsal fin, dusky scale margins and offset dark spot on caudal peduncle. Juveniles have a single dark mid stripe from eye and fading towards tail, see lower photograph. Feeds at night on small benthic and free swimming crustaceans. Grows to 16 cm.

References: R. Stuart-Smith, G. Edgar, A. Green, I. Shaw, Tropical Marine Fishes of Australia. Reed New Holland Publishers, 2015. P.130.

Atlas of Living Australia website at https://bie.ala.org.au/search?q=Pristiapogon+kallopterus. Accessed 03/07/18.

FishBase. Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2018. World Wide Web electronic publication. https://fishbase.ca/summary/Pristiapogon-kallopterus.html. Accessed 03/07/18.