Buffalo Bream

Kyphosus sydneyanus

Fish
IUCN: Not evaluated

Usual depth2–12 m
Water temperature14–26 °C
Best monthsMay, June, and July
How commonCommon

Photo credit: (c) Oscar Dove, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

About this species

The silver drummer, also known as the buff bream, buffalo bream, buffs, common buffalo bream, drummer bream, Southern silver drummer or Sydney drummer, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a sea chub from the family Kyphosidae. It is found in the southeastern Indian Ocean and the southwestern Pacific Ocean off Australia and New Zealand where it is found in shallow water near rocky reefs.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Silver drummer”, 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: 211 records
February: 277 records
March: 342 records
April: 245 records
May: 710 records
June: 876 records
July: 712 records
August: 633 records
September: 686 records
October: 686 records
November: 297 records
December: 247 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 2–12 m · Deepest record: 49 m

0–10 m: 1,211 records
10–20 m: 130 records
20–30 m: 46 records
30–40 m: 8 records
40–50 m: 1 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 14–26 °C

14–16 °C: 6 records
16–18 °C: 17 records
18–20 °C: 5 records
20–22 °C: 17 records
22–24 °C: 0 records
24–26 °C: 782 records
26–28 °C: 1 records

Photos

(c) Belinda Forbes, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Shaun Lee, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Zara, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
(c) Shaun Lee, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Buffalo Bream, Buff Bream, Buffs, Common Buffalo Bream, Drummer Bream, silver drummer, Southern Silver Drummer, Sydney Drummer

Names in 2 more languages

Spanish: Chopa taurina
Simplified Chinese: 雪梨舵鱼

Other scientific names: Cridorsa moonta, Kyphosis sydneyanus, Kyphosus diemenensis, Pimelepterus meridionalis, Pimelepterus sydneyanus

Similar species

Blue sea chub
Kyphosus cinerascens
Bermuda chub
Kyphosus sectatrix
Brassy chub
Kyphosus vaigiensis
Grey sea chub
Kyphosus bigibbus
Cornel's Drummer
Kyphosus cornelii
Pacific Chub
Kyphosus pacificus

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).
6,257 open-data records from 1891 to 2022.
Species data updated November 3, 2026.

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