Twobar seabream

Appearance

This species is distinguished from its congeners by the following set of characters: 2 conspicuous vertical black bars across the head, with the first bar from occiput through eye and across cheek to rear end of maxilla. while the second bar is from nape to opercle; colour of dorsal and caudal fins yellow, without dense black margin of dorsal-fin or narrow black edge along rear margin of caudal fin.

Naming

Synonyms
Chaetodon bifasciatus Forsskål, 1775
Mylio bifasciatus (Forsskål, 1775)
Sparus bifasciatus (Forsskål, 1775)

Distribution

Western Indian Ocean: Red Sea (Israel, Egypt, Eritrea, Saudi Arabia), Persian Gulf (Bahrain and Kuwait), off southern Oman (not Gulf of Oman); presumably along the whole southern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, also Iran to Pakistan.

Habitat

Occurs in shallow coastal waters. Enters estuaries and bays, mainly around coral reefs.