Marine life  /  Snappers, breams & sweetlips  /  Blue-and-yellow fusilier
Reviewed 2026-09-06
Species entry

Blue-and-yellow fusilier

Caesio teres

Blue with a yellow wedge over the back and tail, in schools with other fusiliers.

Size
To 40 cm
Depth
3–45 m
Habitat
Open water over slopes and drop-offs
Active
Daylight
Range
Indo-Pacific
Rarity
Bali
1 star of 5, found on most dives
SP-01
blue-and-yellow fusilier · full body · habitat
4:3 · min 2400px

To about 40 cm, blue over the front and lower body with a bright yellow wedge that starts on the back behind the head, widens rearward and covers the tail. The similar Caesio cuning has a yellow rear third with a straight vertical boundary rather than a wedge, and a deeper body.

It schools in mid-water over slopes and drop-offs with other fusiliers, feeding on zooplankton, and turns red-brown when resting in the reef at night. Mixed fusilier schools are normal and sorting the species within one is best done from a photograph. Recorded from about 3 to 45 m.

Where to find:

LocationRarity Best monthsDepthHabitat
Bali Indonesia editorial estimate
1 star of 5, found on most dives
Year-round
3–45 m
Open water over slopes and drop-offs
Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea editorial estimate
1 star of 5, found on most dives
Year-round
3–45 m
Open water over reef
Anilao Philippines editorial estimate
2 stars of 5, usually seen in a week
Year-round
3–40 m
Open water over reef slopes
Lembeh Strait Indonesia editorial estimate
2 stars of 5, usually seen in a week
Year-round
3–40 m
Open water over reef slopes
Dauin & Dumaguete Philippines editorial estimate
2 stars of 5, usually seen in a week
Year-round
3–40 m
Open water over reef

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.

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