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Rainbow Cale
Odax acroptilus (Richardson, 1846)
A male Rainbow Cale at a depth of 9m, Gordon's Bay, Sydney, New South Wales, February 2003. View larger image.
Adult male Rainbow Cale can be recognised by the elongate first dorsal fin spines and distinctive colouration. They have blue lines on the head and dark blotches on the sides of the body.
Females and juveniles are green to reddish-brown with dark markings on the sides of the body.
This species grows to 30cm in length.
The Rainbow Cale occurs in kelp beds from a few metres in depth down to around 25m.
It is recorded from the central coast of New South Wales, around the temperate south of the country and north to the central coast of Western Australia.
View a map of the collecting localities of specimens in the Australian Museum Fish Collection.
The Rainbow Cale is a member of the fish family Odacidae (view family list). One of the distinguishing features of odacid fishes is that the teeth in both jaws are fused into a parrot-like beak with serrated edges.
Further reading
- Gomon, M.F. in Gomon, M.F, C.J.M. Glover & R.H. Kuiter (Eds). 1994. The Fishes of Australia's South Coast. State Print, Adelaide. Pp. 992.
- Gomon, M.F. & J.R. Paxton. 1985. A revision of the Odacidae, a temperate Australian-New Zealand labroid fish family. Indo-Pacific Fishes. 8: 1-57.
- Hutchins, B. & R. Swainston. 1986. Sea Fishes of Southern Australia. Complete Field Guide for Anglers and Divers. Swainston Publishing. Pp. 180.
- 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.
