Common Name: Striped Scat

Distribution: Common in the Solitary Islands Marine Park. Distributed throughout the Indo-West Pacific region: from Sulawesi in Indonesia to Western and Eastern Australia and New Caledonia. In Australia recorded from Shark Bay in Western Australia across the tropical north of Australia, through Queensland south to eastern Victoria.

Ecological Notes: Frequents estuaries and river entrances and rock pools, sometimes in brackish water (especially juveniles). Also in mangrove creeks and lower reaches of freshwater streams. Depth to 5 m.

Additional Notes: Disc shape with high hump behind head, silvery colour and distinctive vertical striped pattern on upper back with dots below. Similar Spotted Scat, Scatophagus argus, has no stripes, only spots on upper back. Scavengers, feeding on almost anything. Grows to 40 cm.

References: Kuiter, R. H., Coastal Fishes of South-Eastern Australia. Published by Crawford House Press Pty. Ltd., 1993. p.216.

Atlas of Living Australia website at https://bie.ala.org.au/search?q=Selenotoca+multifasciata. Accessed 09/07/18.

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