Lilac-tip Basslet, Pseudanthias rubrizonatus (Randall 1983)

Other Names: Deepsea Fairy Basslet, Lilac-tipped Basslet, Lilac-tipped Seaperch, Redband Anthias, Red-band Basslet, Redbar Anthias, Red-belted Anthias

Summary:

The striking males are pinkish to pinkish orange before a broad red bar on the sides, often with bright yellow on the rear of the body and tail, a lilac stripe from beneath the eye to the lower pectoral-fin base and a lilac margin on the dorsal fin and outer caudal-fin lobes. Females are reddish-pink, paler below, with a darker mark on each scale, a violet stripe from below the eye to the lower pectoral-fin base and red tipped caudal-fin lobes. Juveniles have lavender-tipped dorsal-fin spines.

Cite this page as:

Bray, D.J. 2025, Pseudanthias rubrizonatus in Fishes of Australia, accessed 16 Jun 2026, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/home/species/4400

Lilac-tip Basslet, Pseudanthias rubrizonatus (Randall 1983)

More Info

Distribution	Off Lancelin to NW of Port Hedland, Western Australia, and the Great Barrier Reef to Sydney, New South Wales. Elsewhere the species occurs in the east-Indo-west Pacific: Myanmar, Andaman Sea, Indonesia, east to the Philippines and Fiji, north to central Japan, south to New Caledonia. Aggregates around isolated coral heads, wrecks and rubble patches; juveniles may occur in bays and on silty reefs.
Biology	A protogynous hermaphrodite.
Fisheries	This species is occasionally traded in the aquarium industry.
Species Citation	Anthias rubrizonatus Randall 1983, Aquarium (Berlin) 6(9): 35, figs 5-8. Type locality: south-west side of Savo Island, Solomon Islands.
Author	Bray, D.J. 2025
Resources	Atlas of Living Australia Australian Faunal Directory Catalog of Fishes

Lilac-tip Basslet, Pseudanthias rubrizonatus (Randall 1983)

References

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

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.

Cummings, D.O., Booth, D.J., Lee, R.W., Simpson, S.J. & Pile, A.J. 2010. Ontogenetic diet shifts in the reef fish Pseudanthias rubrizonatus from isolated populations on the North-West Shelf of Australia. Marine Ecology Progress Series 419: 211-222.

Hayasaka, O., Matsui, H., Matsuoka, M., Yamada, M. & Kotani, T. 2019. Sex Change in Protogynous Fish Red-Belted Anthias Pseudanthias rubrizonatus (Serranidae) in Kagoshima Bay, Japan. Journal of Ichthyology 59(3): 366-371 https://doi.org/10.1134/S0032945219030068

Johnson, J.W. 2010. Fishes of the Moreton Bay Marine Park and adjacent continental shelf waters, Queensland, Australia. pp. 299-353 in Davie, P.J.F. & Phillips, J.A. Proceedings of the Thirteenth International Marine Biological Workshop, The Marine Fauna and Flora of Moreton Bay. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 54(3)

Kuiter, R.H. 1993. Coastal Fishes of South-eastern Australia. Bathurst : Crawford House Press 437 pp.

Kuiter, R.H. 1996. Guide to Sea Fishes of Australia. A comprehensive reference for divers and fishermen. Sydney, NSW, Australia : New Holland Publishers xvii, 434 pp.

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

Randall, J.E. 1983. A new fish of the genus Anthias (Perciformes: Serranidae) from the western Pacific, with notes on A. luzonensis. Aquarium (Berlin) 6(9): 27-37

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.

Shapiro, D. 1988. Variation of group composition and spatial structure with group size in a sex-changing fish. Animal Behavior 36: 140-149.

Shapiro, D. 1990. Sex-changing fish as a manipulable system for the study of the determination, differentiation, and stability of sex in vertebrates. Journal of Experimantal Zoology 256: 132-136.

Williams, J.T., Lawrence, A. & Myers, R. 2016. Pseudanthias rubrizonatus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T69591708A69592794. http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T69591708A69592794.en. Downloaded on 09 October 2017.