Redstriped Basslet, Liopropoma tonstrinum Randall & Taylor 1988

Other Names: Barbershop Basslet

A Redstriped Basslet, Liopropoma tonstrinum, at Peleliu, Koror Island, Palau. Source: Mark Rosenstein / iNaturalist. License: CC by Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike

Summary:

A basslet with two broad red stripes separated by a pinkish-white midlateral stripe, anterior part of the head red, rear of head, upper back and lower abdomen yellow, and the red body stripes extending onto the caudal fin.
Video of a Redstriped Basslet in an aquarium.

Cite this page as:

Bray, D.J. 2020, Liopropoma tonstrinum in Fishes of Australia, accessed 22 Mar 2025, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/Home/species/5093

Redstriped Basslet, Liopropoma tonstrinum Randall & Taylor 1988

More Info

Distribution	Holmes Reef in the Coral Sea, Queensland; also Christmas Island in the eastern Indian Ocean. Elsewhere, the species occurs in the east-Indo-west Pacific: from North Maluku, Indonesia and Palau, to Guam and east to the Austral and Society Islands, north to southern Japan. A secretive species found in caves and under ledges on steep outer reef slopes at depths to 50 m.
Features	Dorsal fin VI-I_I,12, Anal fin III,8; Pectoral fin 14; Lateral-line scales 45-47 (+ 2-3 on caudal fin); Scales above lateral line to origin of dorsal fin 5; scales below lateral line to origina of anal fin 13-15; Circumpeduncular scales 33-34; Gill rakers 5-6 + 13-15 = 18-21. Body moderately elongate, depth 3.45-3.7 in SL; inner teethat front of jaws and side of lower jaw 4-5 times longer than teeth on inner row; posterior margin of preopercle irregular, without serrae; fleshy corner and ventral margin of opercle with 6-8 small pores.
Feeding	Feeds on small invertebrates.
Etymology	The specific name tonstrinim is from the Latin tonstrina (= barbershop), in reference to "the red and white striped pattern reminiscent of a barber pole".
Species Citation	Liopropoma tonstrinum Randall & Taylor, 1988, Indo-Pacific Fishes 16: 38, pl. 2b. Type locality: Augulpelu Reef, Palau.
Author	Bray, D.J. 2020
Resources	Atlas of Living Australia Australian Faunal Directory Catalog of Fishes

Redstriped Basslet, Liopropoma tonstrinum Randall & Taylor 1988

References

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. 1979. The Fishes of Christmas Island, Indian Ocean. Aust. Natl. Parks Wldlf. Ser. Spec. Publ. 2. Canberra : Australian Government Publishing Service 81 pp. 15 pls. (as Liopropoma sp 1)

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

Heemstra, P.C. & Randall, J.E. 1999. Family Serranidae. pp. 2442-2548 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. 4 pp. 2069-2790.

Koeda, K., Chiba, S.N. & Motomura, H. 2015. First Japanese specimen-based record of Liopropoma tonstrinum (Teleostei: Serranidae), from Minami-daito Island, Daito Islands, southern Japan. Species Diversity 20: 19-22 https://doi.org/10.12782/sd.20.1.019

Kuiter, R.H. 2004. Basslets, Hamlets and their relatives. A comprehensive guide to selected Serranidae and Plesiopidae. Chorleywood, UK : TMC Publishing 1, 216 pp.

Myers, R.F. 1999. Micronesian Reef Fishes. A comprehensive guide to the coral reef fishes of Micronesia. Guam : Coral Graphics vi 330 pp. 192 pls.

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. & Taylor, L.R. 1988. Review of the Indo-Pacific fishes of the serranid genus Liopropoma, with descriptions of seven new species. Indo-Pacific Fishes 16: 1-47 col. pls 1-4

Williams, J.T., Carpenter, K.E., Lawrence, A. & Myers, R. 2016. Liopropoma tonstrinum. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T69585696A69592372. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T69585696A69592372.en. Downloaded on 27 November 2020.