Dark-banded fusilier
Pterocaesio tile
Valid name (FishBase; confirmed in Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes and WoRMS, October 2026).
- English
- Dark-banded fusilier
- Scientific
- Pterocaesio tile
- Dhivehi
- ގަރަހިތަ މުގުރާންGarahita muguraan
- Family
- Lutjanidae (snappers)
- Maximum size
- Up to about 30 cm (total length); commonly 21 cm
- Depth and habitat
- Coral reefs and reef-associated habitats, recorded from 0 to 60 m
- IUCN status
- LC · Least ConcernLeast Concern (LC), assessed 2015
Description
A slender fusilier with a blue-green back, a black stripe along the lateral line and dark bands on the tail lobes; it flushes red at night. It reaches about 30 cm and schools widely around coral reefs, often in very large numbers.
In the Maldives
Recorded in Dhivehi as garahita muguraan (FishBase, Maldives). Used as tuna bait.
Sources
- fishbase.se /summary/Pterocaesio-tile.html
- fishbase.se /comnames/CommonNamesList.php?ID=939&GenusName=Pterocaesio&SpeciesName
- commons.wikimedia.org /wiki/File:Neon_fusiliers.jpg
Dhivehi name source: FishBase common names (country: Maldives) give 'Garahita muguraan' (Latin script). Thaana 'ގަރަހިތަ މުގުރާން' taken from the Dhivehi Wikipedia list of MRS 1997 species (no article); linked to this species by matching its transliteration to the Latin form 'Garahita muguraan'. FishBase also lists 'Rymugurang' under India (Minicoy/Lakshadweep Mahl dialect); not used. FLAG: Thaana linked by transliteration match; confirm.