Bony Fishes
With your help, Redmap will be tracking the following fish around Australia. Some of these fish may be common along your coastline - but have you spotted any that aren't normally found at your local diving, fishing or swimming spots? Redmap is interested in sightings where fish have ventured away from their usual home range. You can sort this list by region and fish species or common name. And just a short note: when we talk about "fish", technically we're talking about "bony fishes" (not sharks and rays which have cartilaginous skeletons!). Bony fishes are the biggest and most diverse group of vertebrate in the world.
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Eastern wirrah
Acanthistius ocellatus
Otherwise known as ‘Old boot’ due to its taste, the eastern wirrah has a greenish-brown body covered in blue centered spots. Count thirteen…
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Eastern blue groper
Achoerodus viridis
A common and well known New South Wales species found from Harvey Bay to Wilsons Promontory, Victoria. Sightings of Blue Gropers have been …
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Rock cale
Aplodactylus lophodon
Species common to New South Wales and south to Victoria. Rare in Tasmania, sightings are limited to the Kent Group islands. Generally the r…
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Mado
Atypichthys strigatus
Common to the central New South Wales coast and also found in Victoria, Queensland and Tasmania. Mado are considered common in northern Tas…
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Frigate mackerel
Auxis thazard
Migratory species with worldwide distribution, usually associated with warmer waters. Light underside with a pattern of about 15 narrow, ob…
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Onespot puller
Chromis hypsilepis
Very common reef species in New South Wales and south to Victoria (Mallacoota) and the Bass Strait islands. This species is a blue grey col…
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Snapper
Chrysophrys auratus
No evidence as yet to suggest the species are resident all year round in Tasmania, or that there is any self recruitment within the area. T…
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Mahi mahi
Coryphaena hippurus
Common to global tropical waters. This is a highly migratory species, not common to southern waters in Australia. This species is very brig…
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Dusky morwong
Dactylophora nigricans
The morwong family have lovely large rubbery lips, are slow moving and often have an elongated or several elongated sections on their pecto…
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Old wife
Enoplosus armatus
The body is light and silvery with 6 to 8 vertical black bands of varying length and width. The old wife has poisonous sharp spines in its …
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Mosaic leatherjacket
Eubalichthys mosaicus
Generally found within temperate waters and mostly confined to Australia, the leatherjackets are identified by a long spine over the eye an…
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Snakeskin wrasse
Eupetrichthys angustipes
This species is found throughout southern mainland Australia including northern New South Wales to south-western Western Australia and the …
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Rock blackfish
Girella elevata
Rock blackfish are considered a reef dwelling NSW species that has a range that can extend from southern Queensland to northern and north e…
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Luderick
Girella tricuspidata
The Luderick is widespread in eastern Australia from southern Queensland to central South Australia, including northern and north-eastern T…
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Zebrafish
Girella zebra
Commonly found in shallow waters and reef environments across the southern coast of mainland Australia from Western Australia, South Austr…
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Green moray
Gymnothorax prasinus
Most common eel in southern waters - this green eel has a yellow brown humped head and green body. Length: Up to 1.5 m
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Rainbow cale
Heteroscarus acroptilus
Rainbow cale have a known range from the central coast of New South Wales, around the temperate south of Australia to the central coast of …
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Halfbanded seaperch
Hypoplectrodes maccullochi
Known from northern New South Wales to the north and north-east of Tasmania (Bicheno). Sightings have been made at Maria Island. This fish …
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Striped marlin
Kajikia audax
Marlins have the distinctive pointed snout or beak. Look for its dark blue grey back covered in dark stripes, approximately 12 to 16, along…
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Silver drummer
Kyphosus sydneyanus
Look for a sleek silver body with a black edged tail and small black spot below the pectoral fin. Length: Up to 90 cm
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Sergeant baker
Latropiscis purpurissatus
Female top, male below Sergeant bakers are an inquisitive species often seen swimming in reefs by divers. They have a mottled red colour…
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Grey morwong
Nemadactylus douglasii
A well known New South Wales coastal reef species present from southern Queensland to Victoria. Adults are considered rare but present in …
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Blue morwong
Nemadactylus valenciennesi
The morwong family have lovely large rubbery lips, are slow moving and often have an elongated or several elongated sections on their pecto…
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Crimsonband wrasse
Notolabrus gymnogenis
Rick Stuart-Smith (Male - above), Reef Life Survey) This wrasse is a well known New South Wales coastal reef species that also inhabits …
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Herring cale
Olisthops cyanomelas
Herring cale are common from the central coast of Western Australia, South Australia and Victoria, and up the east coast of the mainland to…
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Southern Maori Wrasse
Ophthalmolepis lineolatus
Known to inhabit waters from southern Queensland to Victoria and west to central coast of Western Australia. In Tasmania this species is us…
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White-ear
Parma microlepis
White-ear are common to northern New South Wales and are also present in Victoria and northern Tasmania, usually in the Bass Strait. Juveni…
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Leafy seadragon
Phycodurus eques
The leafy seadragon is greenish to yellowish-brown with many thin dark-edged pale lines or bands across the body. They have large leaf-like…
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Tailor
Pomatomus saltatrix
Distributed from northern New South Wales across southern mainland Australia to Western Australia. Tailor are also known in recent years to…
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Yellowtail kingfish
Seriola lalandi
A good catch from northern New South Wales across southern mainland Australia to Western Australia including South Australia. Often caught …
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King George Whiting
Sillaginodes punctatus
This species is common along the coast of South Australia. The largest of the whiting family it has a silvery body, and brown spots along i…
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Southern roughy
Trachichthys australis
The southern roughy has a rounded body and reddish brown colour. It has white lines and dark markings along the edges of its fins and operc…
