ANIMAL SPECIES:Six-spine Leatherjacket, Meuschenia freycineti (Quoy & Gaimard, 1824)
Male Six-spine Leatherjackets are usually blue with yellow blotches. There are blue lines and dots on the head and below the dorsal and anal fins. Females are pale green, yellow or brown and usually have three to five broad brown stripes. The colour pattern can be variable. Fish across the distribution can look quite different. View images (1, 2) of a fish that does not look like the images to the right. View images of green and yellow juveniles. Both sexes have five to eight spines on the caudal peduncle, those of male fish are longer.
Identification
Male Six-spine Leatherjackets are usually blue with yellow blotches. There are blue lines and dots on the head and below the dorsal and anal fins.
Females are pale green, yellow or brown and usually have three to five broad brown stripes.
The colour pattern can be variable. Fish across the distribution can look quite different.
Both sexes have five to eight spines on the caudal peduncle, those of male fish are longer.
The species grows to 60 cm in length.
Size range
The species grows to 60 cm in length.Distribution
The Six-spine Leatherjacket is endemic to Australia. It occurs in southern Australian waters from northern New South Wales to Western Australia. View images of the head and whole body of a Six-spine Leatherjacket in Port Phillip Bay, Victoria.
Habitat
Juveniles are found in shallow water, commonly in seagrass beds. Adults are found on coastal and offshore reefs, to depths of 50 m or more.
Classification
- Species:
- freycineti
- Genus:
- Meuschenia
- Family:
- Monacanthidae
- Class:
- Actinopterygii
- Subphylum:
- Vertebrata
- Phylum:
- Chordata
- Kingdom:
- Animalia
References
- Edgar, G.J. 1997. Australian Marine Life: the plants and animals of temperate waters. Reed Books. Pp. 544.
- Hutchins, B. & R. Swainston. 1986. Sea Fishes of Southern Australia. Complete Field Guide for Anglers and Divers. Swainston Publishing. Pp. 180.
- Hutchins, J.B. in Gomon, M.F, Glover, C.J.M. & R.H. Kuiter (Eds). 1994. The Fishes of Australia's South Coast. State Print, Adelaide. Pp. 992.
- Kuiter, R.H. 1993. Coastal Fishes of South-Eastern Australia. Crawford House Press. Pp. 437.
- Kuiter, R.H. 1996. Guide to Sea Fishes of Australia. New Holland. Pp. 433.
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