Species: Abudefduf saxatilis, Sergeant Major

Abudefduf saxatilis (Linnaeus, 1758)

Sergeant Major

Body relatively deep, oval, compressed; 1 pair of nostrils; preorbital bone narrow, without a notch above top lip; suborbital bone under eye not attached to cheek, that bone and preopercle both with smooth edges; mouth small, protrusible opens at front; teeth in single row, with notched or flat tips; a single continuous dorsal fin, XIII, 12-13; anal fin II, 10-13; no projecting short spines at upper and lower base of tail fin; caudal fin forked; scales are moderately large and rough; body scaled, head largely scaled, as are the basal parts of the median fins; lateral line incomplete, ends under end of dorsal fin base; 19-23 scales on lateral line.

Adult: Back and sides silvery grey; yellow cast on upper back; 5 black bars that are narrower than interspaces on side. Juvenile silvery white with 5 thin black bars; upper body and dorsal fin yellow.

Size: grows to 23 cm.

Habitat: occurs along edges of reefs; juveniles often in flotsam.

Depth: 0-41 m.

The tropical and subtropical Atlantic; 43N to 35S.