Banded Sergeant, Abudefduf septemfasciatus (Cuvier 1830)

Other Names: Narrow-banded Sergeant-major

A Banded Sergeant, Abudefduf septemfasciatus, at Lizard Island, Great Barrier Reef, Queensland. Source: Andy Lewis / Lizard Island Field Guide, http://lifg.australianmuseum.net.au/. License: CC by Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike

Summary:

A whitish (usually) damselfish becoming whitish below, with 6 relatively broad dusky bars from the rear of the head to the tail base, and a small spot at the upper pectoral-fin base. The bands are wider than the pale interspaces. Individuals may also have dark fin margins.

Cite this page as:

Bray, D.J. 2025, Abudefduf septemfasciatus in Fishes of Australia, accessed 01 Jul 2025, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/Home/species/307

Banded Sergeant, Abudefduf septemfasciatus (Cuvier 1830)

More Info

Distribution	Shark Bay, Ashmore Reef and Cartier Island in the Timor Sea, around the tropical north to Tweed Heads, northern New South Wales, including reefs in the Coral Sea - with juveniles south to at least Arrawarra Headland, New South Wales; also Christmas Island and Cocos (Keeling) Islands in the eastern Indian Ocean, and Norfolk Island in the Tasman Sea. Elsewhere the species occurs in the tropical, Indo-west-central Pacific. Inhabits shallow areas exposed to mild or moderate surge in lagoons and on outer reefs.
Features	Dorsal fin XIII, 12-14; Anal fin II, 11-13; Pectoral fin 17-19; Gill rakers 20-26; Lateral-line scales 20-22. Body depth 1.7–1.9 in SL.
Colour
Feeding	Feeds on algae, benthic invertebrates and zooplankton.
Etymology	The specific name is from the Latin septem (= seven) and fasciatus (= banded), in reference to the dark vertical bars on the head and body (including one across the top of the head).
Species Citation	Glyphisodon septemfasciatus Cuvier, 1830, Hist. Nat. Poissons 5: 463. Type locality: Mauritius (as Isle de France).
Author	Bray, D.J. 2025
Resources	Atlas of Living Australia Australian Faunal Directory Catalog of Fishes

Banded Sergeant, Abudefduf septemfasciatus (Cuvier 1830)

References

Allen, G. R. 1986. Family 219: Pomacentridae. pp. 670-682 in Smith, M.M. & Heemstra, P.C. (eds). Smith's Sea Fishes. Johannesburg : Macmillan South Africa xx + 1047 pp. 144 pls.

Allen, G.R. 1991. Damselfishes of the World. Melle, Germany : Mergus Verlag 271 pp.

Allen, G.R. 1993. Fishes of Ashmore Reef and Cartier Island. Records of the Western Australian Museum, Supplement 44: 67-91

Allen, G.R. 1997. Marine Fishes of Tropical Australia and South-east Asia. Perth : Western Australian Museum 292 pp. 106 pls.

Allen, G. R. 2001. Family Pomacentridae. pp. in Carpenter, K.E. & Niem, T.H. (eds). The Living Marine Resources of the Western Central Pacific. FAO Species Identification Guide for Fisheries Purposes. Rome : FAO Vol. 6 pp. 3381-4218.

Allen, G.R. & Erdmann, M.V. 2012. Reef fishes of the East Indies. Perth : Tropical Reef Research 3 vols, 1260 pp.

Allen, G.R., Steene, R.C. & Orchard, M. 2007. Fishes of Christmas Island. Christmas Island : Christmas Island Natural History Association 2 edn, 284 pp.

Allen, G.R. & Smith-Vaniz, W.F. 1994. Fishes of Cocos (Keeling) Islands. Atoll Research Bulletin 412: 1-21.

Allen, G.R. & Swainston, R. 1988. The Marine Fishes of North-Western Australia. A field guide for anglers and divers. Perth, WA : Western Australian Museum vi 201 pp., 70 pls.

Cuvier, G.L. in Cuvier, G.L. & Valenciennes, A. 1830. Histoire Naturelle des Poissons. Paris : Levrault Vol. 5 499 pp. pls 100-140. See ref at BHL

Grant, E.M. 1975. Guide to Fishes. Brisbane : Queensland Government, Co-ordinator General’s Department 640 pp.

Hobbs, J-P.A., Newman, S.J., Mitsopoulos, G.E.A., Travers, M.J., Skepper, C.L., Gilligan, J.J., Allen, G.R., Choat, H.J. & Ayling, A.M. 2014. Checklist and new records of Christmas Island fishes: the influence of isolation, biogeography and habitat availability on species abundance and community composition. Raffles Bulletin of Zoology Supplement 30: 184–202.

Hobbs, J-P.A., Newman, S .J., Mitsopoulos, G.E.A., Travers, M.J., Skepper, C.L., Gilligan, J.J., Allen, G.R., Choat, H.J. & Ayling, A.M. 2014. Fishes of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands: new records, community composition and biogeographic significance. Raffles Bulletin of Zoology Supplement 30: 203–219.

Hsu, L.-L., Borsa, P. & Chen, W.J. 2025. Successive cycles of allopatric differentiation and secondary contact shape phylogeographical structure in an Indo-West Pacific reef fish, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 144(2): blaf002, https://doi.org/10.1093/biolinnean/blaf002

Hutchins, J.B. 2001. Biodiversity of shallow reef fish assemblages in Western Australia using a rapid censusing technique. Records of the Western Australian Museum 20: 247-270.

Jenkins, A., Carpenter, K.E., Allen, G. & Yeeting, B. 2017. Abudefduf septemfasciatus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2017: e.T188453A1877191. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-2.RLTS.T188453A1877191.en. Accessed on 17 June 2025.

Randall, J.E. 2005. Reef and shore fishes of the South Pacific. New Caledonia to Tahiti and the Pitcairn Islands. Honolulu : University of Hawaii Press 707 pp.

Randall, J.E., Allen, G.R. & Steene, R. 1990. Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea. Bathurst : Crawford House Press 507 pp. figs.

Randall, J.E., Allen, G.R. & Steene, R. 1997. Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea. Bathurst : Crawford House Press 557 pp. figs.

West, K.M., Stat, M., Harvey, E.S., et al. 2020. eDNA metabarcoding survey reveals fine-scale coral reef community variation across a remote, tropical island ecosystem. Molecular Ecology 29:1069-1086 https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.15382