False Fusilier

Paracaesio xanthurus

Fish
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth9–100 m
Water temperature20–30 °C
Best monthsJune, July, and August
How commonOccasional

Photo credit: (c) Nicola Crockford, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

About this species

Paracaesio xanthura, the yellowtail blue snapper, the false fusilier, gold-backed fusilier, Pedley's fusilier or Southern fusilier, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a snapper belonging to the family Lutjanidae. It is native to the Indo-Pacific region.

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

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

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Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 150 records
February: 95 records
March: 85 records
April: 97 records
May: 138 records
June: 261 records
July: 349 records
August: 298 records
September: 213 records
October: 198 records
November: 198 records
December: 154 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 9–100 m · Deepest record: 227 m

0–10 m: 3 records
10–20 m: 1 records
20–30 m: 9 records
30–40 m: 1 records
40–50 m: 6 records
50–60 m: 3 records
60–70 m: 0 records
70–80 m: 0 records
80–90 m: 0 records
90–100 m: 0 records
100–110 m: 1 records
110+ m: 2 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 20–30 °C

20–22 °C: 7 records
22–24 °C: 843 records
24–26 °C: 5 records
26–28 °C: 7 records
28–30 °C: 7 records

Photos

no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
(c) Georgina Jones, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
(c) Nicola Crockford, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: False Fusilier, Gold-backed Fusilier, Pedley's Fusilier, southern fusilier, yellowback fusilier, Yellowtail Blue Snapper, Yellowtail Fusilier

Names in 3 more languages

Spanish: Panchote rabo amarillo
French: Vivanette à queue jaune, Vivanette queue jaune
Japanese: Umeiro, ウメイロ

Other scientific names: Aetiasis cantharoides, Apsilus xanthurus, Caesio xanthurus, Paracaesio pedleyi, Paracaesio tumidus, Paracaesio xanthura, Paraceasio xanthurus, Vegetichthys tumidus

Similar species

Small toothed jobfish
Aphareus furca
Green jobfish
Aprion virescens
Mangrove red snapper
Lutjanus argentimaculatus
Twinspot snapper
Lutjanus bohar
Blacktail snapper
Lutjanus fulvus
Humpback snapper
Lutjanus gibbus

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).
2,033 open-data records from 1869 to 2013.
Species data updated October 30, 2026.

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