Skip to main content
Browse the 1966 Encyclopaedia of New Zealand
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWYZ
Graphic: An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand 1966.

Warning

This information was published in 1966 in An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand, edited by A. H. McLintock. It has not been corrected and will not be updated.

Up-to-date information can be found elsewhere in Te Ara.

Contents

Related Images


SPOTTY

Spotty is the name given to the small, rocky-shore fish Pseudolabrus celidotus, found in shallow water throughout New Zealand. It reaches 8 in. in length and is yellowish brown in colour, sometimes green, with a large dark blotch below the dorsal fin. The spotty has several brilliantly coloured relatives in New Zealand, commonly called parrot fish, although they belong to the Wrasse family. Among these are the scarlet parrot fish (soldiers) and banded parrot fish (kelpies).

by Lawrence James Paul, B.SC., Fisheries Division, Marine Department, Wellington.

Co-creator

Lawrence James Paul, B.SC., Fisheries Division, Marine Department, Wellington.