Slender Squirrelfish, Neoniphon sammara (Forsskal 1775)


Other Names: Armed Squirrel-fish, Blood-spot Squirrel-fish, Javelin Squirrel-fish, Sammara Squirrelfish, Spotfin Squirrelfish

A Slender Squirrelfish, Neoniphon sammara, at Lord Howe Island, February 2016. Source: John Turnbull / Flickr. License: CC by Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike

Summary:
A silvery to golden squirrelfish fading to white below, with a series of narrow dark red to blackish stripes along the sides, a large diagnostic black spot on the front part of the dorsal fin that continues as a broad reddish band through fin, white spine tips and white basal markings on the dorsal fin, black spots on the cheek, and a broad reddish band on the gill cover.

Cite this page as:
Bray, D.J. 2020, Neoniphon sammara in Fishes of Australia, accessed 29 Mar 2024, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/home/species/4445

Slender Squirrelfish, Neoniphon sammara (Forsskal 1775)

More Info


Distribution

Dampier Archipelago and offshore reefs of north Western Australia, Ashmore Reef in the Timor Sea, north of the Cobourg Peninsula, Northern Territory, and the far northern Great Barrier Reef, Queensland, and reefs in the Coral Sea, to off Iluka, New South Wales; also Cocos (Keeling) Islands in the eastern Indian Ocean, and the Lord Howe Province in the Tasman Sea. Elsewhere the species occurs in the Indo-west-central Pacific.
Inhabits reef flats, lagoons, bays, seaward reefs and seagrass habitats. During the day, individuals or small groups shelter in or near caves and coral overhangs, or among branching corals.

Feeding

An active nocturnal predator - feeds on small fishes, crabs and shrimps, along with larger zooplankton.

Biology

Matures at about 6 years of age.

Remarks

Squirrelfishes communicate underwater by using muscles to vibrate the swimbladder.

Author

Bray, D.J. 2020

Resources

Atlas of Living Australia

Slender Squirrelfish, Neoniphon sammara (Forsskal 1775)

References


Allen, G.R. 1993. Fishes of Ashmore Reef and Cartier Island. Records of the Western Australian Museum, Supplement 44: 67-91 

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

Allen, G.R., Hoese, D.F., Paxton, J.R., Randall, J.E., Russell, B.C., Starck, W.A., Talbot, F.H. & Whitley, G.P. 1976. Annotated checklist of the fishes of Lord Howe Island. Records of the Australian Museum 30(15): 365-454 figs 1-2 

Allen, G.R. & Erdmann, M.V. 2012. Reef fishes of the East Indies. Perth : Tropical Reef Research 3 vols, 1260 pp. 

Allen, G.R. & Smith-Vaniz, W.F. 1994. Fishes of Cocos (Keeling) Islands. Atoll Research Bulletin 412: 1-21

Carlson, B.A. & Bass, A.H. 2000. Sonic/vocal motor pathways in squirrelfish (Teleostei, Holocentridae). Brain, Behavior and Evolution 56: 14.

Castelnau, F.L. de 1875. Researches on the fishes of Australia. Intercolonial Exhibition Essays. 2. pp. 1–52 in, Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition of 1876 : Official Record. Melbourne. (described as Neoniphon armatus)

Choat, J.H., van Herwerden, L., Robbins, W.D., Hobbs, J.P. & Ayling, A.M. 2006. A report on the ecological surveys undertaken at Middleton and Elizabeth Reefs, February 2006. Report by James Cook University to the Department of the Environment and Heritage. 65 pp. 

De Vis, C.W. 1884. New fishes in the Queensland Museum. No. 3. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 1 9(3): 537-547 (described as Neoniphon hasta)

Forsskål, P. 1775. Descriptiones Animalium Avium, Amphibiorum, Piscium, Insectorum, Vermium; quæ in Itinere Orientali observavit Petrus Forskål. Post Mortem Auctoris edidit Carsten Niebuhr. Adjuncta est Materia Medica Kakirina atque Tabula Maris Rubri Geographica. Hauniæ : Mölleri 1-19, i-xxxiv, 164 pp., 1 map. See ref at BHL

Francis, M. 1993. Checklist of the coastal fishes of Lord Howe, Norfolk, and Kermadec Islands, southwest Pacific Ocean. Pacific Science 47(2): 136-170 figs 1-2 

Francis, M.P. 2019. Checklist of the coastal fishes of Lord Howe, Norfolk and Kermadec Islands, southwest Pacific Ocean. Version: 2019.2 figshare. Collection. https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.4428305.v2

Grant, E.M. 2002. Guide to Fishes. Redcliffe : EM Grant Pty Ltd 880 pp.

Hobbs, J-P.A., Newman, S .J., Mitsopoulos, G.E.A., Travers, M.J., Skepper, C.L., Gilligan, J.J., Allen, G.R., Choat, H.J. & Ayling, A.M. 2014. Fishes of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands: new records, community composition and biogeographic significance. Raffles Bulletin of Zoology Supplement 30: 203–219 

Hutchins, J.B. 1994. A survey of the nearshore reef fish fauna of Western Australia's west and south coasts — The Leeuwin Province. Records of the Western Australian Museum, Supplement 46: 1-66 figs 1-6 

Hutchins, J.B. 2003. Checklist of marine fishes of the Dampier Archipelago, Western Australia. pp. 453-478 in Wells, F.E., Walker, D.I., & Jones, D.S. (eds). Proceedings of the Eleventh International Marine Biological Workshop: The Marine Flora and Fauna of Dampier, Western Australia. Perth : Western Australian Museum.

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. 1992. Tropical Reef-Fishes of the Western Pacific, Indonesia and Adjacent Waters. Jakarta : PT Gramedia Pustaka Utama 314 pp. pls. 

Larson, H.K., Williams, R.S. & Hammer, M.P. 2013. An annotated checklist of the fishes of the Northern Territory, Australia. Zootaxa 3696(1): 1-293

Lecchini, D., Y. Nakamura, M. Tsuchiya & R. Galzin. 2007. Spatiotemporal distribution of nocturnal coral reef fish juveniles in Moorea Island, French Polynesia. Ichthyological Research 54: 18-23. 

Munro, I.S.R. 1967. The Fishes of New Guinea. Port Moresby : Dept. Agric. Stock Fish. 651 pp. 23 figs 84 pls. (as Kutaflammeo sammara)

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., 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. 

Randall, J.E. & Greenfield, D.W. 1999. Family Holocentridae. pp. 2225-2256 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. 1985. A review of the squirrelfishes of the subfamily Holocentrinae from the western Indian Ocean and Red Sea. Ichthyological Bulletin of the J.L.B. Smith Institute, Grahamstown 49: 1-27 

Shimizu, T. & Yamakawa, T. 1979. Review of the squirrelfishes (subfamily Holocentrinae : order Beryciformes) of Japan, with a description of a new species. Japanese Journal of Ichthyology 26(2): 109-147 figs 1-23

Williams, I. & Greenfield, D. 2016. Neoniphon sammara (errata version published in 2017). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T67871355A115438968. http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-1.RLTS.T67871355A67871880.en. Downloaded on 03 December 2017.

Quick Facts


CAAB Code:37261019

Behaviour:Nocturnal

Conservation:IUCN Least Concern

Depth:1-46 m

Habitat:Reef associated

Max Size:30 cm TL

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