Thumbprint monocle bream
(Scolopsis bimaculata)
Image source: mwamlavya | inaturalist.org
General data
Indian Ocean: Red Sea, Persian Gulf and from Muscat, Oman to Delagoa Bay, Mozambique. Also from Madagascar, Sri Lanka and the Bay of Bengal.
Max lengt : 31 cm TL
Dorsal spines (total): 10; Dorsal soft rays (total): 9; Anal spines: 3; Anal soft rays: 7.
Head scales reaching forward to level of posterior nostrils. Lower limb of preopercle scaly. Antrorse (forward-directed) suborbital spine absent. Pelvic fins long, reaching to between level of anus and origin of anal fin. Axillary scale present. Color: Upper body grey, whitish below. A blue stripe joining eyes.
Found in inshore waters usually on coral reefs or sand or mud bottoms close to reefs. Feeds on crustaceans, mollusks, echinoderms and fishes.
