Scissortail sergeant

Abudefduf sexfasciatus

Fish
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth2–7 m
Water temperature20–30 °C
Best monthsJuly, September, and October
How commonCommon

Photo credit: (c) Susan Prior, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Susan Prior · CC BY · iNaturalist

About this species

The scissortail sergeant or striptailed damselfish is a large damselfish in the family Pomacentridae. It earns its name from the black-striped tail and sides, which are reminiscent of the insignia of a military Sergeant, being similar to those of the sergeant major damselfish. It grows to a length of about 16 centimetres (6.3 in). Scissortail sergeants live on coral reefs at depths of up to 15 metres (50 ft) in tropical reaches, often living in a group surrounding a single head of coral. They are found on reefs in the Indo-Pacific region, including the Red Sea.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Scissortail sergeant”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

Loading the map

Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 476 records
February: 422 records
March: 495 records
April: 603 records
May: 530 records
June: 567 records
July: 783 records
August: 585 records
September: 665 records
October: 908 records
November: 565 records
December: 424 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 2–7 m · Deepest record: 290 m

0–10 m: 1,261 records
10–20 m: 87 records
20–30 m: 0 records
30–40 m: 2 records
40–50 m: 0 records
50–60 m: 0 records
60–70 m: 0 records
70–80 m: 0 records
80–90 m: 0 records
90–100 m: 0 records
100–110 m: 0 records
110+ m: 2 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 20–30 °C

20–22 °C: 3 records
22–24 °C: 5 records
24–26 °C: 108 records
26–28 °C: 70 records
28–30 °C: 49 records

Photos

Names and classification

English: Scissortail sergeant, scissortail sergeant, Scissor-tail Sergeant, Scissortail Sergeant, Scissortail Sergeant Major, Sergeant Major, Sergeants, Six-banded Sergeant-major, Six-barred Sergeant-major, Stripetail Damsel, Stripe-tailed Damsel-fish, striptailed damselfish

Names in 6 more languages

German: Scherenschwanz-Sergeant
Spanish: Sargento Mayor de seis bandas
French: Boeteur Carreaux, Sergent Major, Sergent-major à queue en ciseaux
Japanese: Rokusensuzumedai, ロクセンスズメダイ
Thai: ปลาสลิดหินบั้งหางกรรไกร
Simplified Chinese: 六带豆娘鱼, 六帶豆娘魚, 六帶豆娘魚 (石剎/石剎婆), 六線豆娘魚, 六線雀鯛, 厚殼仔, 藍豆娘魚

Other scientific names: Abudefduf coelestinus, Glyphidodon caelestinus, Glyphisodon coelestinus, Labrus sexfasciatus

Similar species

Cow pilot
Abudefduf saxatilis
Indo-Pacific sergeant
Abudefduf vaigiensis
Bengal Sergeant
Abudefduf bengalensis
Banded sergeant
Abudefduf septemfasciatus
Blackspot sergeant
Abudefduf sordidus
Black-tailed Sergeant-major
Abudefduf lorenzi

Sources and credits

Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).

Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
4,328 open-data records from 1801 to 2023.
Species data updated October 26, 2026.

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