Goldspot pigfish
Bodianus perditio
Illustration: Bloom by Day
A large orange-red pigfish spotted with golden-orange over the head and shoulders, with a yellow mark in the middle of the back and a big oval black patch just behind it. It works rubble and reef edges alone, flipping pieces over, and generally ignores divers.
how to recognise it
- orange-red, with golden-orange spots over the head and front of the body
- a yellow spot or bar in the middle of the back
- a large oval black patch below the soft dorsal-fin base, just behind that yellow mark
- a large black blotch on the spiny part of the dorsal fin
don’t confuse with
- Eclipse pigfish — the eclipse is a small fish with one clean blackish diagonal band splitting a purple front from a pale rear
- Blackfin pigfish — the blackfin's black mark is at the REAR of the dorsal fin, not below the soft dorsal, and it has blue-dashed rows on a reddish back
- Pacific Diana's pigfish — Pacific Diana's pigfish is a small fish to 15 cm with a red head and a yellow mid-body
Field marks read from Fishes of Australia, 2026-10-15. Our wording, their facts. Max size 46 cm SL.
facts
- habitat
- reef
- size
- ~30 cm, to 46 cm
Max size from Fishes of Australia (46 cm SL); the typical size is Bluebird’s, not from a cited source
- records near here
- 22 at 5 of 6 spots
A count of occurrence records near these spots, 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.