Redmarbled Lizardfish, Synodus rubromarmoratus Russell & Cressey 1979

Other Names: Red-marbled Lizardfish

Illustration of a Redmarbled Lizardfish, Synodus rubromarmoratus, from Mrs Watsons Bay, Lizard Island, Great Barrier Reef, Queensland - USNM 218792. Source: Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, Department of Vertebrate Zoology, Division of Fishes. License: CC by Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike

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Synodus rubromarmoratus in Fishes of Australia, accessed 10 Jul 2025, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/Home/species/3998

Redmarbled Lizardfish, Synodus rubromarmoratus Russell & Cressey 1979

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Distribution	Possibly endemic to the Great Barrier Reef, Queensland. S. rubromarmoratus was previously considered to be widespread in the Indo-west Pacific. However, Furuhashi & Motomura (2025) described the similar S. autumnus, and reidentified most Australian material as that species.
Colour	Body mottled with red. Five broad undulated bars extend from middorsal line down to lower half of sides, dark reddish on dorsum, paling to reddish brown on sides. Interspaces mottled with pale reddish brown, a large brownish blotch separating 2 pairs of whitish spots in interspaces on lower part of sides, the spots forming a horizontal row along either side of body. Ventral region pale, whitish. Head reddish brown, cheeks and occipital region bright red. Eye reddish, pupil red, edged with yellow. Fins with 4-5 narrow indistinct transverse reddish bands, adipose fin red.
Etymology	The specific name is from the Latin rubeus (= red, reddish) and marmoratus (= marbled), "in reference to the characteristic red marbled coloration of the living fish".
Species Citation	Synodus rubromarmoratus Russell & Cressey 1979, Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 92(1): . 172, fig. 3. Type locality: Lizard Island, Queensland.
Resources	Atlas of Living Australia Australian Faunal Directory Catalog of Fishes

Redmarbled Lizardfish, Synodus rubromarmoratus Russell & Cressey 1979

References

Cressey, R.F. 1981. Revision of Indo-West Pacific lizardfishes of the genus Synodus (Pisces: Synodontidae). Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology 342: i-iii + 1-53. http://dx.doi.org/10.5479/si.00810282.342

Furuhashi, R. & Motomura, H. 2025. Synodus autumnus, a new species of lizardfish (Aulopiformes, Synodontidae) from the Indo-Pacific region, and a reassessment of distributional records of Synodus rubromarmoratus. ZooKeys 1243: 191-206. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1243.147259