banjofish

The banjofish is a small, deep-bodied fish of the Indo-West Pacific, from the seas off Western Australia through Indonesia and the South China Sea up to Japan. It stays near the coast but well below normal diving depth, between 50 and 400 m. It reaches about 20 cm long.

Also known as: banjosid

Two close relatives, the East Australian and Timor Sea banjofish, share the same outline, and telling them apart properly needs body measurements. In the water, go to the soft rear part of the dorsal fin: a large round black blotch sits at its front edge, with a white rim along the top of the fin. That mark stays put whatever the light and whatever the fish is doing.

The body is deep and flattened from side to side, with a steep forehead and an almost straight line along the back. The spines at the front of the dorsal fin are flattened rather than round. In the anal fin, on the underside near the tail, the second spine is much longer than the ones beside it. The tail fin has a shallow notch. The body is silvery white to grey brown and pales towards the belly. The front of the head is blackish, which makes the whitish lips stand out. A wide brown band runs across the tail fin just inside its edge. Young fish also show faint dark stripes on the flanks and a big black spot where the tail joins the body.