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Doublebar Goatfish
Parupeneus bifasciatus (Lacépède, 1801)

A Doublebar Goatfish at a depth of 15m, Rapid Horn, Osprey Reef, Coral Sea, December 2000. View larger image.

Three different colour forms exist for the Doublebar Goatfish. These vary according to location. The Indo-Australian form is pale with a dark blotch around the eye and two dark bars on the body. There is a yellow spot on each scale and sometimes a faint dark bar on the caudal peduncle (glossary). The colouration is stronger in juveniles than adults.

The Pacific form ranges from brown to red with two distinct bars. The Indian Ocean form has two wedge-shaped bars that become progressively narrower on the belly.

This species grows to 35cm in length.

Adult Doublebar Goatfish are usually seen on inshore coral reefs and in deep lagoons. Juveniles are more commonly found in surge channels near the intertidal zone.

Adults and juveniles are often seen resting on coral or rubble. They occur in small groups or singularly.

This fish can be found at depths of 1m to 80m. It feeds on crustaceans during the day and fishes and crabs at night.

The Doublebar Goatfish occurs in tropical marine waters of the Indo-Pacific, from East Africa, north to Japan, south to Australia and east to the Marshall Islands.

In Australia the Doublebar Goatfish is known from the north-western coast of Western Australia, around the tropical north, and south to the southern coast New South Wales.

View a map of the collecting localities of specimens in the Australian Museum Fish Collection.

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Doublebar Goatfish Parupeneus bifasciatus (Lacépède, 1801)

Further reading

Doublebar Goatfish
Parupeneus bifasciatus (Lacépède, 1801)