Graham's Swallowtail, Odontanthias xanthomaculatus (Fourmanoir & Rivaton 1979)

Graham's Swallowtail, Odontanthias grahami, from off northern New South Wales - freshly dead holotype, AMS I.32142-010, 9.3 cm SL. Source: John E. Randall / FishBase. License: CC by Attribution-NonCommercial

Summary:

A rare pale pink and yellow deepwater anthias with a broad blackish-yellow submaginal band on soft portion of the dorsal fin, and the caudal fin with a yellow base and bright pink lobes and outer margins.

Cite this page as:

Bray, D.J. 2025, Odontanthias xanthomaculatus in Fishes of Australia, accessed 06 Jun 2026, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/home/species/1758

Graham's Swallowtail, Odontanthias xanthomaculatus (Fourmanoir & Rivaton 1979)

More Info

Distribution	Off Coolum, southern Queensland, to southeast of Kingscliff, northern New South Wales; also the Lord Howe Rise in the Tasman Sea. Inhabits mesophotic reefs.
Features	Dorsal fin X, 14; Anal fin III, 7; Pectoral fin 16; Caudal fin, principal rays 9+8; Lateral-line scales 36-40; Gill rakers 13 + 28-30; Vertebrae 10+16=26. Body depth 2.7 in SL; head length (HL) 2.85 in SL; large eye, orbit diameter 3.1 in HL; long spine at angle of preopercle, reaching margin of subopercle; triangular and tri-Iobed vomerine tooth patch; teeth absent on mesopterygoids; scales dorsally on snout almost reaching upper lip; naked mandible; Third dorsal-fin spine elongate, 1.6 in HL; moderately prolonged as filaments are the rays of about anterior half of soft portion of dorsal fin, with the third finray longest; second anal-fin spine is slightly longer than third, 2.1 in HL; deeply emarginate caudal fin, its lobes tapering little and not pointed, fin length 2.5 in SL; pectoral fins 1.2 in HL; pelvic fins reaching third anal spine base, 2.95 in SL.
Colour	A large yellow spot extends between the eighth dorsal-fin spine and the fifth dorsal-fin ray, ranging from the dorsal profile to the middle of the body. On the dorsal fin, the coloration spreads, becoming greenish yellow. The anterior spines are also greenish yellow except the base which is pink, the end of the membrane to incised portion is pink-cream for all spines. Segmented rays of the dorsal not covered by the yellow spot are red. The caudal fin is bright pink lilac, the external rays and the base are white. The anal is greenish yellow with a little pink along the distal part of the upper and lower rays. The pelvics are white on the outside, straw yellow with a little pale pink inside. The pectorals are colourless. The body is pink with yellow above and behind the eyes. The head is pink with a yellow area in front of the eyes, which also covers the upper part of the lip. A slightly sloping yellow band crosses the preopercle. The eye is pink-lilac. (Fourmanoir & Rivation 1979)
Remarks	Gill & Tang (2022) showed that Odontanthias grahami is a junior synonym of O. xanthomaculatus.
Etymology	The specific name xanthomaculatus is from the Latin xanthos (= yellow) and maculatus (= spotted), in reference to the large yellow spot between eighth dorsal-fin spine and the fifth dorsal-fin ray, that extends from the dorsal profile to the middle of the body.
Species Citation	Anthias xanthomaculatus Fourmanoir & Rivaton 1979, Cahiers de l'Indo-Pacifique 1(4): 414, Fig. 8. Type locality: Bulari Pass, New Caledonia, depth 200 m.
Author	Bray, D.J. 2025
Resources	Atlas of Living Australia Australian Faunal Directory Catalog of Fishes

Graham's Swallowtail, Odontanthias xanthomaculatus (Fourmanoir & Rivaton 1979)

References

Fourmanoir, P. & Rivaton, J. 1979. Poissons de la pente récifale externe de Nouvelle-Calédonie et des Nouvelles-Hébrides. Cahiers de l'Indo-Pacifique 1(4): 405-443. See ref online

Gill, A.C. & Russell, B.C. 2019. Redescription of Anthias xanthomaculatus Fourmanoir and Rivaton, and its reassignment in the genus Odontanthias Bleeker (Teleostei: Serranidae: Anthiadinae). Zootaxa 4568 (1): 177–184 http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4568.1.11

Gill, A.C. & Tang, C.N. 2022. Odontanthias grahami Randall & Heemstra, a junior synonym of Anthias xanthomaculatus Fourmanoir & Rivaton (Teleostei: Serranidae: Anthiadinae). Zootaxa 5222(2): 145-154. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5222.2.3

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.

Randall, J.E. & Heemstra, P.C. 2006. Review of the Indo-Pacific fishes of the genus Odontanthias (Serranidae: Anthiinae), with descriptions of two new species and a related genus. Indo-Pacific Fishes 38: 1-32.

White, W.T. 2011. Odontanthias randalli n. sp., a new anthiine fish (Serranidae: Anthiinae) from Indonesia. Zootaxa 3015: 21-28. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3015.1.3

Williams, J.T., Lawrence, A. & Myers, R. 2016. Pseudanthias xanthomaculatus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T69591923A69592824. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T69591923A69592824.en. Accessed on 23 December 2022.