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Bigscale Soldierfish
Myripristis berndti Jordan & Evermann, 1903
A Bigscale Soldierfish at Bougainville Reef, Coral Sea, Queensland, December 2000. View larger image.
The Bigscale Soldierfish can be recognised by its colouration. The scales are silver-pink to pale yellow with red edges. The spiny dorsal fin is orange to yellow on the outer portion and red basally. All the other fins are red, with a white margin and often with a dark submarginal (glossary) streak. The opercular membrane and naked area above the pectoral fin are dark brown to black.
This species is widely distributed throughout tropical, marine waters of the Indo-Pacific and eastern Pacific. In Australia it is recorded from north-western Western Australia, around the tropical north and south to the central coast of New South Wales.
The Bigscale Soldierfish grows to 30cm in length.
Further reading
- Randall, J.E., Allen, G.R. & R.C. Steene. 1997. Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea. Crawford House Press. Pp. 557.
- Randall, J.E & D.W. Greenfield, 1996. Revision of the Indo-Pacific Holocentrid Fishes of the Genus Myripristis, with descriptions of three new species. Indo-Pacific Fishes 25: 1-61, pls i-ix.
