Marine life  /  Morwongs & trumpeters  /  Grey morwong
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Species entry

Grey morwong

Nemadactylus douglasii

A silver-grey morwong of deeper temperate reef, usually in pairs or small groups over open ground.

Size
To 81 cm
Depth
10–40 m
Habitat
Deeper temperate reef, east coast
Active
Daylight
Range
Australia
Rarity
Australia
3 stars of 5, a good week should turn one up
SP-01
grey morwong · full body · habitat
4:3 · min 2400px

To about 81 cm and 4 kg. Silvery-blue, sometimes tinted yellow or brown above, with blue median fins and the elongated lower pectoral ray this family carries.

The red morwong is the pair and the head settles it: white stripes on a reddish body there, none here.

Nought to two hundred metres, usually ten to a hundred. Small groups near reef by day over adjacent sand, schooling at around a hundred metres where it is trawled.

Two things a diver sees. It props itself off the bottom on the elongate pectoral rays, and it uses those same rays to flick settling parasites off its own body.

Where to find:

LocationRarity Best monthsDepthHabitat
Australia Australia editorial estimate
3 stars of 5, a good week should turn one up
Year-round
10–40 m
Deeper temperate reef, east coast

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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