"FAMILY:  SERRANIDAE

COMMON NAME : EASTERN WIRRAH

SCIENTIFIC NAMES:  Acanthistius ocellatus

FEATURES:  I expect that this is the first ever publication of the nocturnal colours of this species. They are generally not well known to photographers and few images ( even of day time colours ) have ever been published in fish identification guides. I can see why it has been so much of a task for you to get an identification, as the striking black pattern on the face and body is so unlike any other species.

However, this fish is generally only found in caves and your specimen was possibly asleep in the darkness of Fish Rock Cave when you have photographed it and it still retained its nocturnal colours. The species grows to 45 cm, ranges south to Tasmania has been caught down to 100 metres." - Neville Coleman.

Special thanks to Neville Coleman for identifying this fish. Neville has spent much of his life photographing and documenting sea life and has authored over 50 books, mostly on underwater natural history.

A smaller version of this image is on the colorado-pass dive site page.