Teleostei (teleosts) > Acanthuriformes (Surgeonfishes) > Siganidae (Rabbitfishes)
Etymology: Siganus: Latin, siganus = a fish, rabbit fish; by the similarity of the nose (Ref. 45335).
More on authors: Forsskål & Niebuhr.

Marine; brackish; reef-associated; depth range 1 - 30 m (Ref. 50672); subtropical; 32°N - 36°S25°E - 58°E.

Western Indian Ocean: several localities in East Africa, and from the Red Sea to the eastern Mediterranean via the Suez Canal.

Maturity: L_m 13.7, range ? - ? cm
Max length: 30.2 cm TL male/unsexed (Ref. 118092); common length: 20.0 cm TL male/unsexed (Ref. 30573).

Dorsal spines (total): 13; Dorsal soft rays (total): 10; Anal spines: 7; Anal soft rays: 9; Vertebrae: 23. Upper body gray, green or brownish, silvery below; iris iridescent silver or golden. Body color patterns extend to the fins. Spines slender, pungent and venomous. Preopercular angle 88°-96°; cheeks scaled; midline of thorax, isthmus and midline of belly without scales. Frightened fish become mottled or with 6 diagonal zones across side. Tip of broad-based flap of anterior nostril reaching at least halfway to orifice of posterior nostril.

Inhabits shallow waters and generally in schools of 50 to several hundred individuals; prefers protected areas. Feeds by grazing on algae.

Woodland, D.J. 1990 Revision of the fish family Siganidae with descriptions of two new species and comments on distribution and biology. Indo-Pac. Fish. (19):136 p. (Ref. 1419)

  Least Concern (LC); date assessed: February 04 2009

Not Evaluated

Not Evaluated

  Venomous (Ref. 4537)

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Preferred temperature (Ref. 123201): 24.7 - 29.2, mean 27.3 °C (based on 573 cells).

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804): PD₅₀ = 0.5 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].

Bayesian length-weight: a=0.01175 (0.00969 - 0.01425), b=2.99 (2.94 - 3.04), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species (Ref. 93245).

Trophic level (Ref. 69278): 2.0 ±0.0 se; Based on diet studies.

Generation time: 4.0 (1.3 - 4.9) years. Estimated as median ln(3)/K based on 11 growth studies.

Resilience (Ref. 120179): Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (K=0.22, tm=1-2).

Fishing vulnerability (Ref. 59153): Low to moderate vulnerability (31 of 100).

Price category (Ref. 80766): High; Questionable: based on ex-vessel price for species in this genus.

Nutrients (Ref. 124155): Calcium = 21.9 [10.0, 56.0] mg/100g; Iron = 0.57 [0.26, 1.33] mg/100g; Protein = 19.5 [18.5, 20.6] %; Omega3 = 0.21 [0.11, 0.45] g/100g; Selenium = 7.41 [2.58, 18.44] μg/100g; VitaminA = 52.3 [14.3, 193.5] μg/100g; Zinc = 1.38 [0.54, 3.02] mg/100g (wet weight); based on nutrient studies.