Teraglin
Atractoscion atelodus (formerly Atractoscion aequidens)
Illustration: Bloom by Day
An iridescent silvery fish, brownish to blue or purple over the back, with a black mark at the pectoral base and startling bright yellow inside the mouth. It schools over offshore reef at dusk and is most often told from a mulloway by looking in its mouth.
how to recognise it
- a black blotch on the pectoral-fin base
- bright yellow inside the mouth and beneath the gill cover
- a crescent-shaped or concave tail
- iridescent silvery brownish to blue or purple, paler below, often with faint oblique lines on the back and sides
don’t confuse with
- Mulloway — the mulloway has pearly-white spots along its lateral line and no yellow inside the mouth. NOT the tail: Fishes of Australia describes the mulloway's tail as "concave to pointed" and the teraglin's as "crescent-shaped or concave", so the tail does not separate them
- Black jewfish — the black jewfish is darker and has a narrower tail base
Field marks read from Fishes of Australia, 2026-10-15. Our wording, their facts. Max size 100 cm TL.
facts
- habitat
- reef
- size
- ~60 cm, to 100 cm
Max size from Fishes of Australia (100 cm TL); the typical size is Bluebird’s, not from a cited source
- records near here
- 2 at 2 of 6 spots
A count of occurrence records near these spots, 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 · Limit: 5
source
· verified 2026-10-10
NSW — 38 cm · 5
source
· verified 2026-10-01
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.