Divefree

Fish

Blacksaddle Goatfish

Parupeneus rubescens

A colour-changing goatfish, red, bluish or blue with a bright yellow saddle behind the dorsal fin and blue streaks on the head.

Also known as beervis

Blacksaddle Goatfish
Photo: Derek Keats · CC BY 4.0
Habitat
Sand patches and reef

The blacksaddle goatfish shifts through a range of colours, from red to reddish-blue to blue, but is usually known by the yellow saddle set behind the second dorsal fin and the blue streaks often marking the head. Like all goatfish it carries a pair of long chin barbels for probing the bottom.

It uses those barbels to hunt small invertebrates over sand and reef, and is a familiar sight to divers on warmer coastal reefs.