Leopard coral trout
Plectropomus leopardus
Illustration: Bloom by Day
Orange to brick red with small blue spots scattered over the head and flanks, slimmer than the rockcods and with a square-cut tail edged in dark blue. It hangs just off the coral watching the water rather than you, and when it has had enough it does not bolt but tips down and is simply gone into the reef.
how to recognise it
- bright blue spots, evenly spaced, over the whole head and body
- a blue ring around the eye, sometimes broken into dashes
- olive green through reddish brown to orange-red — it changes colour fast, so the spots are the mark, not the colour
- often goes blotchy while hunting
don’t confuse with
- Barcheek coral trout — the barcheek has some spots DRAWN OUT INTO DASHES on the head; here every spot is round
- Blue-spotted coral trout — the blue-spotted coral trout is either whitish with black saddles and yellow fins, or grey with a dark head and five saddles — never evenly spotted all over
Field marks read from Fishes of Australia, 2026-10-13. Our wording, their facts. Max size 120 cm SL; 23.6 kg.
facts
- habitat
- reef
- size
- ~45 cm, to 120 cm
Max size from Fishes of Australia (120 cm SL; 23.6 kg); the typical size is Bluebird’s, not from a cited source
- records
- 10317 at 11 spot(s), none of
them in this region
Recorded at Cod Hole (Ribbon Reefs GBR), SS Yongala Wreck, Hardy Reef (Whitsundays), Heron Island (GBR), Erskine Island, Lady Elliot Island (GBR), Montebello Islands (WA), Muiron Islands (Exmouth WA), Exmouth (Navy Pier WA), Coral Bay (WA), Abrolhos Islands (WA). A count of occurrence records, not abundance. Records are where someone looked.
when it has been recorded
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A gap means no record in the sample, not absence.
the rule
QLD — Min: 38cm · Combined limit: 7 in total of all trout species
source
· verified 2026-10-10
no NSW rule listed — check before you dive
QLD s 23 — closed season 6 November 2026 to 10 November 2026 (20 windows listed)
as regulated coral reef fin fish = any species in Fisheries (General) Regulation 2019, sch 7 pt 2 (tables 1-9) — table 2 (coral trout)
where: coral reef fin fish waters — tidal waters within the boundary from the northern tip of Cape York along latitude 10º41' south ... to latitude 24º50' south, longitude 154º east ... along latitude 24º50' south to the mainland shore
Whether it applies where you dive depends on the spot — open that spot on the map and press “fish here”.
Fisheries Declaration 2019 · Reprint current from 25 September 2026 to date · read 2026-10-13
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.