A barred sandperch that props itself on its pelvic fins on shallow sand and rubble.
A sandperch to about 13 cm, pale grey to fawn with a row of squarish dark blotches along the lower flank, a set of narrower bars above them and fine dark lines on the cheek. The head is pointed, the eyes sit high and the body is round in section rather than flattened. It spends the dive on the bottom, propped up on the pelvic fins with the front of the body raised, and moves in short darts of a metre or two before settling again in the same posture.
It takes small crustaceans and fish from the sediment surface and from just under it, and hunts by watching from the propped position and striking downward. Territories are small and shallow, mostly above about 20 m, on the mixed sand, rubble and low weed that borders reef. Males hold ground containing the ranges of several females, and the species changes sex from female to male, so the largest animal in a group is normally the male.
Recorded widely in the western Pacific and eastern Indian Ocean. It is common enough on the approach and the safety stop that it is often left out of logs altogether, which makes the recorded frequency lower than the true one.
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.