SOLITARY ISLANDS
UNDERWATER
RESEARCH GROUP, INC.

Species Index

Pterocaesio trilineata
(Carpenter, 1987)

Common Name: Threestripe Fusilier

Distribution: Uncommon in the Solitary Islands Marine Park. Distributed throughout the Indo-Pacific region, from eastern Indonesia to Fiji, north to the Philippines, south to eastern Australia. In Australia recorded from offshore reefs in northern Western Australia, the Coral Sea and Great Barrier Reef in Queensland south to northern New South Wales.

Ecological Notes: Frequents clear water offshore coral reefs. Depth 1 – 30 m.

Additional Notes: Slender body has three dark green/grey stripes on upper body and tail lobes have broad red/brown tips. Feeds on zooplankton in the water column, in small to large aggregations. Individuals may school with other fusilier species. More common Pterocaesio digramma has similar tail but only two yellow body stripes. Grows to 20 cm, commonly 13 cm.

References: R. Stuart-Smith, G. Edgar, A. Green, I. Shaw, Tropical Marine Fishes of Australia. Reed New Holland Publishers, 2015. p.163.

Atlas of Living Australia website at https://bie.ala.org.au/search?q=Pterocaesio+trilineata. Accessed 05/07/18.

FishBase. Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2018. World Wide Web electronic publication. https://fishbase.ca/summary/Pterocaesio-trilineata.html. Accessed 05/07/18.