The sea goldie (''Pseudanthias squamipinnis''), also known as the orange basslet, lyretail coralfish, onestripe goldie, lyretail anthias,Lieske, E. and Myers, R.F. (2004) ''Coral reef guide; Red Sea'' London, HarperCollins lyretail fairy basslet, orange fairy basslet, orange seaperch, scalefin basslet, scalefin Fairy basslet and scalefin anthias, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, an

anthias Anthias are members of the family Serranidae and make up the subfamily Anthiinae. Anthias make up a sizeable portion of the population of pink, orange, and yellow reef fishes seen swarming in most coral reef photography and film. The name Anthi ...

from the

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end subfamily botanical names with "-oideae", and zoologi ...

Anthiinae Anthias are members of the family Serranidae and make up the subfamily Anthiinae. Anthias make up a sizeable portion of the population of pink, orange, and yellow reef fishes seen swarming in most coral reef photography and film. The name Anthi ...

part of the family Serranidae, the groupers and sea basses. It has a wide

Indo-Pacific The Indo-Pacific is a vast biogeographic region of Earth. In a narrow sense, sometimes known as the Indo-West Pacific or Indo-Pacific Asia, it comprises the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean, the western and central Pacific Ocean, and the ...

distribution. It is found in the

aquarium An aquarium (plural: ''aquariums'' or ''aquaria'') is a vivarium of any size having at least one transparent side in which aquatic plants or animals are kept and displayed. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, aq ...

trade.

Range

The sea goldie is found in the western Indian Ocean including the Red Sea, and in the Pacific Ocean as far east as

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

and southeast

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 ...

. It is absent from the Persian Gulf and Oman.

Description

This species shows marked

dimorphism Dimorphism or dimorphic may refer to: Science * Dimorphic root systems, plant roots with two distinctive forms for two separate functions * Sexual dimorphism, a phenotypic difference between males and females of the same species * Nuclear dimorph ...

: *Female: Length up to 7 cm (2.75 in), orange/gold color with violet streak below the eye *Male: Length up to 15 cm (5.9 in), fuchsia color with elongated third ray of the dorsal fin, a red patch on the pectoral fin, and elongated margins of the tail The midas blenny, ''Ecsenius midas'', goes through a phase of yellow colouration and is a social mimic of the sea goldie. The sea goldie feeds primarily on zooplankton. Like other

, the sea goldie is a protogynous hermaphrodite; a male retains a harem of five to 10 females, but when the male dies or leaves, the largest and most dominant female will undergo hormonal and physical changes to become the harems new male. This change can take several weeks to months to complete. Spawning occurs at sunset, between December and February (in the Red Sea).Siliotti, A. (2002). ''Fishes of the Red Sea''. Verona, Geodia

Habitat

The fish lives around coral outcrops in clear lagoons, patch reefs, and steep slopes to a depth of 35 m, often found in the company of '' Chromis dimidiata''. They are often found in very large schools above the reef.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sea Goldie sea goldie Fish of the Red Sea Fish described in 1885 Taxa named by Wilhelm Peters