Silver schools in the surge zone, named for the black bands on the tail.
To about 25 cm, silver with a slightly greenish back, a large eye, and a forked tail carrying five black bands — four on the lobes and one along the centre — which is the identifying feature and the source of the name.
It schools in the surge zone over shallow rock and reef flats, where visibility and water movement make it a difficult subject, and moves into slightly deeper water at night to feed on zooplankton and small crustaceans. Juveniles are found in tide pools and estuaries. It is a fish divers see at the start and end of shore dives rather than during them. Recorded from the surface to about 10 m.
Ratings are per location: 1 means found on most dives that look for it, 5 means a handful of records. Where enough dives have been logged the figure is calculated from them; otherwise it is an editorial estimate, and says so. We publish habitat and destination, not the dive site.