Blackfin pigfish
Bodianus loxozonus
Illustration: Bloom by Day
A yellow-and-red pigfish ruled with blue head stripes and rows of blue dashes along the back, with one large black blotch where the dorsal fin ends. It patrols the lower reef turning rubble over and pays divers little attention.
how to recognise it
- a large black blotch on the body at the rear of the dorsal fin
- yellowish to reddish, with bluish stripes on the head
- a reddish back with rows of blue spots or dashes
- alternating yellow and white stripes along the sides
don’t confuse with
- Eclipse pigfish — the eclipse pigfish is split in two by one clean blackish diagonal band, purple in front and pale behind
- Goldspot pigfish — the goldspot is orange-red with golden-orange spots and a large oval black patch under the soft dorsal
- Pacific Diana's pigfish — in Pacific Diana's pigfish it is the terminal MALES that carry black spots, on the rear dorsal and the middle of the anal and pelvic fins
Field marks read from Fishes of Australia, 2026-10-15. Our wording, their facts. Max size 40 cm TL.
facts
- habitat
- reef
- size
- ~28 cm, to 40 cm
Max size from Fishes of Australia (40 cm TL); the typical size is Bluebird’s, not from a cited source
- records
- 18 at 5 spot(s), none of
them in this region
Recorded at Osprey Reef (Coral Sea), Lizard Island — Cod Wall, North Horn (Coral Sea), Cairns Reef (Great Barrier), Flinders Reefs (Coral Sea). A count of occurrence records, not abundance. Records are where someone looked.
when it has been recorded
JFMAMJJASOND
A gap means no record in the sample, not absence.
the rule
QLD — Min: 25cm · Limit: 5
source
· verified 2026-10-10
no NSW rule listed — check before you dive
no closed season recorded for this species — that is not the same as open; check the official page
Rules checked 2026-10-13 against qld.gov.au
Rules change. Check before you dive.
Occurrence data: Atlas of Living Australia (ala.org.au), CC-BY 4.0.
Diver transect counts: Reef Life Survey (reeflifesurvey.com), CC-BY 4.0, supplied via ALA.
Target and protected species: Queensland tidal-water size and possession limits (qld.gov.au) and NSW saltwater bag and size limits plus threatened species lists (dpird.nsw.gov.au).
Habitat and size: Bluebird, approximate, from general knowledge. Not cited. FishBase is CC BY-NC and this app is commercial, so it is not used.
Description written for Bloom. RECORDS ARE WHERE SOMEONE LOOKED, NOT WHERE THE FISH ARE. A record count is a count of records near here and nothing else -- it is not abundance, and a species with few records is not rare. Absence of records is not absence of fish.
Diver transect counts: Reef Life Survey (reeflifesurvey.com), CC-BY 4.0, supplied via ALA.
Target and protected species: Queensland tidal-water size and possession limits (qld.gov.au) and NSW saltwater bag and size limits plus threatened species lists (dpird.nsw.gov.au).
Habitat and size: Bluebird, approximate, from general knowledge. Not cited. FishBase is CC BY-NC and this app is commercial, so it is not used.
Description written for Bloom. RECORDS ARE WHERE SOMEONE LOOKED, NOT WHERE THE FISH ARE. A record count is a count of records near here and nothing else -- it is not abundance, and a species with few records is not rare. Absence of records is not absence of fish.