Animal Species:Bastard Trumpeter, Latridopsis forsteri (Castelnau, 1872)

The Bastard Trumpeter is a schooling fish, occuring in Australia and New Zealand, that lives in coastal waters, often observed swimming over sand near rocky reefs.

A Bastard Trumpeter at Cronulla

A Bastard Trumpeter at Cronulla
Taro Suzuki © Taro Suzuki

Identification

The Bastard Trumpeter can be recognised by its silver-grey colouration with short, irregular brown or greenish-brown lines on the upper sides. Adult fishes have a dark caudal fin margin.

Size range

It grows to about 65 cm in length.

Distribution

The species occurs in Australia and New Zealand.

In Australia it is known from the central coast of New South Wales, around the south-east of the continent, including Tasmania, to eastern South Australia.

The Family Latridae contains three genera, Latridopsis, Latris and Mendosoma. All three are found in Australia's cooler southern waters.

Distribution by collection data

Biomaps map of Bastard Trumpeter specimens in the Australian Museum collection.

What does this mean?

Habitat

The Bastard Trumpeter lives in coastal waters down to depts of around 60 m.

 It is most often observed swimming over sand near rocky reefs.

Other behaviours and adaptations

It is a schooling fish that can be seen in small numbers or occasionally in schools of thousands.

Classification

Species:
forsteri
Genus:
Latridopsis
Family:
Latridae
Order:
Perciformes
Class:
Actinopterygii
Subphylum:
Vertebrata
Phylum:
Chordata
Kingdom:
Animalia

What does this mean?

References

  1. Kuiter, R.H. 1993. Coastal Fishes of South-Eastern Australia. Crawford House Press. Pp. 437.
  2. Kuiter, R.H. in Gomon, M.F., C.J.M. Glover & R.H. Kuiter (Eds). 1994. The Fishes of Australia's South Coast. State Print, Adelaide. Pp. 992.


Mark McGrouther , Collection Manager, Ichthyology
Last Updated:

Tags fishes, ichthyology, Bastard Trumpeter, Latridopsis forsteri, Latridae,