Reef Watch Victoria

The Six-spined Leatherjacket gets its name from a patch of six short spines on either side of the narrowest part of the tail (before the fin). These spines are in a group, often highlighted in yellow. The mature male has a round circle of yellow on his side containing black blotches. Juveniles have brown stripes along the body. This species grows to 55cm in length.

Map interpretation: This maps show the average abundance of this species, as observed by participants in the Great Victorian Fish Count. Each dot represents a site that has been monitered by Reef Watch, and the colour of the dot shows the average abundance, as detailed in the legend. Tentative sightings occur when the Reef Watcher is not 100% confident of the identification, or where the sighting is outside the previously known distribution of the species. It would be great to confirm these sightings with a photograph or further observations.

References:

Edgar, Graham. J. 1997. Australian Marine Life - the plants and animals of temperate waters (revised edition). New Holland : Sydney .
Gomon, Martin. F, Glover, J. C. M., & Kuiter, R. H. (eds) 1994. The Fishes of Australia 's South Coast . State Print: Adelaide .
Hutchins, Barry, & Swainston, Roger. 1986. Sea Fishes of Southern Australia - Complete Field Guide for Anglers and Divers. Swainston Publishing and Gary Allen: Smithfield .
Kuiter, Rudie. H. 1993. The Complete Divers' & Fishermen's Guide to Coastal Fishes of South-Eastern Australia . Crawford House Press: Bathurst .
Kuiter, Rudie. H. 1996. Guide to Sea Fishes of Australia - A comprehensive reference for divers & fishermen. New Holland : Sydney .