About Platax teira (Forsskål, 1775)
Platax teira has a dark blotch under its pectoral fin, and a second long dark mark above the base of its anal fin. When viewed from the side, it has an roughly circular body with a low hump on its nape. This fish is typically silver, grey, or brownish in color. It has a blackish band running through its eye, and a second blackish band located at the pectoral fin. Individuals can change color in real time, shifting from silvery white with no bands, to brown with darker banding, before fading back to silver again. The maximum published total length for this species is 70 cm (28 in). Very small juveniles are brownish and resemble floating leaves. Larger juveniles have highly elongated pelvic fins, and highly elongated front soft rays of the dorsal and anal fins, that extend to approximately the posterior end of the anal fin base.
Platax teira has a wide distribution across the Indo-Pacific, ranging from the Red Sea and East Africa to Papua New Guinea, north to the Ryukyu Islands, and south to Australia. It has also been recorded in the Bay of Islands in New Zealand. In Australia, it can be found along the central coast of Western Australia, around the tropical north of the country, and south to the southern coast of New South Wales. In India, it was reported from the Gulf of Mannar after the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami. It has been recorded twice recently in the Mediterranean Sea, off the coasts of Turkey and Israel. This species lives among floating seaweed, debris, and artificial reefs, and occurs in habitats ranging from shallow coastal areas to deeper offshore waters.
