Yellowback fusilier
Caesio xanthonota
Valid name (FishBase; confirmed in Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes and WoRMS, October 2026).
- English
- Yellowback fusilier
- Scientific
- Caesio xanthonota
- Dhivehi
- މަހި މުގުރާންMahi muguraan
- Family
- Lutjanidae (snappers)
- Maximum size
- Up to about 42 cm (standard length)
- Depth and habitat
- Coral reefs and reef-associated habitats, recorded from 0 to 50 m
- IUCN status
- LC · Least ConcernLeast Concern (LC), assessed 2015
Description
A fusilier with a bright yellow upper third of the body and tail, a blue middle and a white belly. It forms large mid-water schools over deep lagoons and along outer reefs, feeding on zooplankton. It is an Indian Ocean species, replaced in the Pacific by the very similar yellowback form of C. teres.
In the Maldives
Dhivehi Wikipedia (MRS-derived) calls it mahi muguraan; FishBase (Maldives) lists dhon noo mas. Fusiliers are used as live bait in the Maldivian pole-and-line tuna fishery.
Sources
- fishbase.se /summary/Caesio-xanthonota.html
- fishbase.se /comnames/CommonNamesList.php?ID=927&GenusName=Caesio&SpeciesName=xant
- dv.wikipedia.org /wiki/މަހި_މުގުރާން
- commons.wikimedia.org /wiki/File:Pez_fusilero_(Caesio_xanthonota),_Zanzíbar,_Tanzania,_2024-
Dhivehi name source: FishBase (country: Maldives) gives a different name: 'Dhon noo mas, Donnomas'. Thaana from the Dhivehi Wikipedia article 'މަހި މުގުރާން' (derived from the MRS 1997 Dhivehi edition). No published Latin-script form found; 'Mahi muguraan' is Pax's transliteration of the Thaana (Malé Latin conventions). FishBase also lists 'Donkevumas' under India (Minicoy/Lakshadweep Mahl dialect); not used. FLAG: sources disagree; needs a Dhivehi speaker. FLAG: Latin form is a transliteration, not a published spelling.