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Magpie Sweetlips
Plectorhinchus picus (Cuvier, 1830)
A Magpie Sweetlips at a depth of 13m, North Solitary Island, New South Wales, May 1997. View larger image.
A juvenile Magpie Sweetlips showing its distinctive undulating swimming motion.
The Magpie Sweetlips is white to grey with numerous small black spots on the upper half of the head and body. Juveniles are black above and white below. They have a white snout, a white saddle on the nape (glossary) and another on the back below the middle of the dorsal fin.
This species grows to 50cm in length.
It occurs on coral and rocky reefs of tropical and some temperate waters of the Indo-West and Central Pacific.
In Australia it is known from the Great Barrier Reef, Queensland to southern New South Wales.
View a map of the collecting localities of specimens in the Australian Museum Fish Collection.
Further reading
- Allen, G.R. 1997. Marine Fishes of Tropical Australia and South-east Asia. Western Australian Museum. Pp. 292.
- Kuiter, R.H. 1996. Guide to Sea Fishes of Australia. New Holland. Pp. 433.
- Kuiter, R.H. 2000. Coastal Fishes of South-eastern Australia. Gary Allen. Pp. 437.
- Randall, J.E., Allen, G.R. & R.C. Steene. 1997. Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea. Crawford House Press. Pp. 557.
