(Image credit: Carpenter and Allen 1989)

The ornate emperor has a dusky whitish colour with four to six orange stripes. They have bright red marks near their gills. The heads are a brown colour, and will often have a red spot to the front of and underneath their eyes. The pelvic, anal and dorsal fins are a white colour, while the pectoral fin is more orange. They have red colourations along the edges of their caudal and dorsal fins.

Length: Up to 45 cm

Habitat

Coastal areas, seagrass beds, lagoons and near reefs; 0-30 m depth

Log it

In Queensland, log this species south of Mackay

Related links/info

Species names on the Redmap site are based on the Codes for Australian Aquatic Biota or CAAB (http://www.cmar.csiro.au/caab/). This is updated regularly and lists the approved common name, family, species name and more.

Find further information and images at FISHES OF AUSTRALIA http://www.fishesofaustralia.net.au/

Carpenter, K.E. and G.R. Allen, 1989. FAO Species Catalogue. Vol. 9. Emperor fishes and large-eye breams of the world (family Lethrinidae). An annotated and illustrated catalogue of lethrinid species known to date. FAO Fish. Synop. 125(9):118 p. Rome: FAO (Image credit)

Froese F, Pauly D (2011) Fishbase. www.fishbase.org

GBRMPA (2009) Great Barrier Reef Outlook Report 2009. 2. Distributions and Habitats.