Bengal Sergeant, Abudefduf bengalensis (Bloch 1787)

Other Names: Bengal Sergeant-major, Narrow-banded Sergeant Major, Palmer's Damsel-fish

A Bengal Sergeant, Abudefduf bengalensis, on Ningaloo Reef, Western Australia, April 2009. Source: Erik Schlogl / iNaturalist.org. License: CC By Attribution-NonCommercial

Summary:

A whitish to pale greyish sergeant major with six or seven narrow black bands on the body and distinctly rounded caudal fin lobes.

Cite this page as:

Bray, D.J. 2025, Abudefduf bengalensis in Fishes of Australia, accessed 17 Jul 2026, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/home/species/306

Bengal Sergeant, Abudefduf bengalensis (Bloch 1787)

More Info

Distribution	Recorded in Australia from Rockingham, Western Australia, around the tropical north to Merimbula, New South Wales on the east coast; also the Lord Howe Province in the Tasman Sea. Elsewhere the species is widespread in the tropical, east-Indo-west Pacific: Pakistan and India, east to Papua New Guinea and the Philippines, Vietnam, China, southern Korea and central Japan, south to New South Wales, Australia. Individuals or small groups inhabit protected inshore rocky, coral reef and lagoon environments - mostly commonly in shallow waters. Juveniles may be found in tidepools.
Features	Dorsal fin VIII, 13-15; Anal fin II, 13-14.
Feeding	Omnivore - feeds on algae, gastropods molluscs and small crustaceans.
Similar Species	The similar Banded Sergeant, Abudefduf septemfasciatus, has broader dark bars and lacks the white margin on the caudal fin.
Etymology	The species is named bengalensis after the type locality, Bengal, India.
Species Citation	Chaetodon bengalensis Bloch, 1787, Naturgesch. der ausländisch. Fische 3: 110. Type locality: Bengal.
Author	Bray, D.J. 2025
Resources	Atlas of Living Australia Australian Faunal Directory Catalog of Fishes

Bengal Sergeant, Abudefduf bengalensis (Bloch 1787)

References

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