Helotes sexlineatus
A small striped fish logged year-round in New South Wales, comfortable in 22 to 29C waters and common at most sites where it turns up.
A small, slim-bodied fish topping out around 10cm, easy to spot thanks to six dark horizontal stripes running along a pale silver-grey flank. The body is somewhat compressed and torpedo-shaped, built for holding position in the water column just off structure rather than darting into crevices. There's no strong reported difference between juveniles and adults in stripe pattern, so size is your main cue to age.
Typically seen hovering in loose groups over reef and rocky structure rather than buried in it, moving unhurriedly and holding its ground rather than bolting when divers approach. As a herbivore it spends much of its time grazing algae off rock and reef surfaces, which is usually where you'll find it parked at any time of day.
Its herbivorous diet sets it apart from most of its terapontid relatives, which tend to be more opportunistic or predatory, making it more of a grazer than a hunter on the reef.
Sightings don't show a clear seasonal pattern, and with a comfortable range of 22.4 to 29C it seems to be present across the year rather than tied to a narrow window. Treat it as a year-round sighting in New South Wales rather than planning a trip around a particular month.
Reef neighbours a diver could mistake it for. Use the identification notes above to tell them apart.
This one is very much a New South Wales fish in the logged data, with sightings concentrated across dive sites there and nowhere else showing up as a stronghold. If you're diving in NSW, it's a reliable find rather than a rarity, logged as common at the majority of sites where divers have recorded it.
Mapping where Six-lined Terapon is logged…
It's almost entirely a New South Wales, Australia species in diver records, showing up as a common sighting at most sites there rather than being spread across other regions.
There's no strong season in the data, so it's best treated as a year-round sighting in New South Wales, consistent with its comfortable 22.4 to 29C temperature range.
Look for a small, silver-grey fish around 10cm long with six dark horizontal stripes running the length of its body, usually seen hovering near rocky or reef structure.
They're a small species, typically reaching around 10cm in length, so they're easy to overlook against larger reef fish.
No, they pose no known danger to divers and are simply worth watching as they graze along rock and reef surfaces.
Site and sighting data is aggregated from diver logs, iNaturalist and GBIF. For taxonomy and conservation status:
Sun Perch
2,182 sites
