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Cave Sweeper

Fish · Least Concern

Cave Sweeper

Pempheris vanicolensis

About

The Vanikoro sweeper, also called the greenback bullseye, is an Indo-Pacific fish in the family Pempheridae, the sweepers.

Family
Pempheridae
Avg size
15-20 cm
Habitat
Its distribution spans the Indo-Pacific, though the exact range is debated. In the strict sense, it occurs from the Andaman Sea eastward through the Malay Archipelago to New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, where the original type specimen was collected at Vanikoro.
Behaviour
It lives in shallow tropical and subtropical seas, usually no deeper than 100 m and often around coral reefs. By day it gathers in schools that shelter beneath ledges and inside caves, harbours, and shipwrecks; at night it forages high in the water column for zooplankton. The species also hosts the intestinal nematode Rhabdochona indiana.

Where & when

Where & When to See It

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