''Latropiscis purpurissatus'', the sergeant baker or Dragon Snapper, is a species of

flagfin The Aulopidae are a small family of aulopiform fish. They are found in most tropical and subtropical oceans, and are commonly known as flagfins. The aulopids resemble lizardfishes in appearance, and range up to in length. They have large dorsal ...

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. This

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

grows to a total length of , and is the only known member of its

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

. The

Australian Museum The Australian Museum is a heritage-listed museum at 1 William Street, Sydney central business district, New South Wales, Australia. It is the oldest museum in Australia,Design 5, 2016, p.1 and the fifth oldest natural history museum in the ...

suggests that the sergeant baker is named after Sergeant William Baker who served as Admiral Arthur Phillip's orderly sergeant. He may have been the first colonist to catch this fish species. Sergeant Baker sailed to Australia aboard the transport ship Charlotte as a Corporal of Marines. Sergeant bakers are commonly found in Australia's warm southern waters between Queensland and Western Australia, dwelling on the bottom of coastal and deep-reef environments. They readily take bait or lures, but are generally considered poor eating.

References

* Aulopiformes Monotypic fish genera Marine fish of Australia Fish described in 1843 {{Aulopiformes-stub