Common Name: Pink Basslet

Distribution: Uncommon in the Solitary Islands Marine Park. Distributed throughout the Indo-Pacific region: from the Maldives to Samoa, north to Taiwan and the Ryukyu Islands, south to the Great Barrier Reef. In Australia recorded from the northern Great Barrier Reef in Queensland south to Jervis Bay in New South Wales.

Ecological Notes: Frequents protected reefs and lagoons, depth range from 6 to at least 50 m. 

Additional Notes: Males with distinctive red patch one third of way along dorsal fin, female (pictured here) with bright purple outer eye, and red margin to tail fin. Usually seen in small groups, predominantly female with single males close by. Grows to 19 cm.

References: R. Stuart-Smith, G. Edgar, A. Green, I. Shaw, Tropical Marine Fishes of Australia. Reed New Holland Publishers, 2015. p.105.

Atlas of Living Australia website at https://bie.ala.org.au//search?q=Pseudanthias+hypselosoma. Accessed 01/06/18.

FishBase. Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2018. World Wide Web electronic publication. https://www.fishbase.se/summary/Pseudanthias-hypselosoma.html Accessed 21/04/18.