A small striped fish that hovers in loose clouds at the mouths of caves and gutters on east coast reef.
To about 10 cm. Small and elongate with a distinctive stripe pattern. Young fish have a rounded tail and adults develop elongated central tail rays.
The southern hulafish is the species to separate it from, and range is what does it rather than any published character: this fish runs from southern Queensland to eastern Victoria, and that one is southern Australia and Tasmania.
It schools in loose clouds just off rocky reef and around ledges, commonly around eight metres. The name refers to its exaggerated hula-like swimming motion, which is what a diver notices before anything else. It eats zooplankton only, and males guard the eggs.
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.
