Description Distribution: Indo-West Pacific. Dorsal fin having 10-15 slender spines; soft rays 8-22. Three spines in anal fin; soft...
Description Distribution: Indo-West Pacific. Dorsal fin having 10-15 slender spines; soft rays 8-22. Three spines in anal fin; soft rays 9-13. Jaws with small teeth in most species. Upper jaw highly protractile. Vertebrae 24. To about 60 cm maximum length. Fusiliers are closely related to snappers (Lutjanidae) but possess several adaptations for a planktivorous mode of life, such as the elongate fusiform body, the small mouth, and the deeply forked caudal fin. During the day they occur in large zooplankton feeding schools in mid-water over the reef, along steep outer reef slopes and around deep lagoon pinnacles. Although they are active swimmers, they often pause to pick zooplankton and at cleaning stations, and shelter within the reef at night. Fusiliers are important food fishes and are also used as bait in tuna fisheries. [details]
Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. (2025). FishBase. Caesionidae Bonaparte, 1831. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=151454 on 2025-05-13
taxonomy sourceVan Der Laan, R.; Eschmeyer, W. N.; Fricke, R. (2014). Family-group names of Recent fishes. <em>Zootaxa.</em> 3882(1): 1-230., available online athttps://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3882.1.1[details] Available for editors [request]
Present Inaccurate Introduced: alien Containing type locality
Unreviewed
Description Distribution: Indo-West Pacific. Dorsal fin having 10-15 slender spines; soft rays 8-22. Three spines in anal fin; soft rays 9-13. Jaws with small teeth in most species. Upper jaw highly protractile. Vertebrae 24. To about 60 cm maximum length. Fusiliers are closely related to snappers (Lutjanidae) but possess several adaptations for a planktivorous mode of life, such as the elongate fusiform body, the small mouth, and the deeply forked caudal fin. During the day they occur in large zooplankton feeding schools in mid-water over the reef, along steep outer reef slopes and around deep lagoon pinnacles. Although they are active swimmers, they often pause to pick zooplankton and at cleaning stations, and shelter within the reef at night. Fusiliers are important food fishes and are also used as bait in tuna fisheries. [details]