Longfin Batfish

Widespread Indo-West Pacific. The most common batfish seen by divers. Large adults occur in sheltered bays as well as deep off-shore. Often found around shipwrecks in small groups and occasionally form large schools. Small juveniles are found amongst floating debris and form aggregations as they find each other. They can be pelagic up to a large size and form schools under large Sargassum rafts that usually form after the wet season. Small juveniles are readily identified by their shape and colour. The tall-fin look remains up to a large size and adults have a diagnostic black blotch posteriorly at the lower end of the dark band behind the head. This blotch is less obvious when the band is dark and in sub-adults it only occurs as an irregularity in the shape of the band. Length to 45cm, reported to 60cm.