Fun Fusilier Fish Facts For Kids

Part of the phylum Chordata, the fish in the family Caesionidae are called fusilier fish. The family Caesionidae has 23 known species found at reefs of the Indo-Pacific region and in the Red Sea. They are related to snappers but do feed on larger prey like the fusiliers. Slender-bodied fusiliers have a strict diet of only zooplankton. The upper jaws of these fish are modified for picking the zooplankton. Seeing the fusiliers in an aquarium is very common, but also they are known to be used as food in many parts of the world. Usually growing to a length of 15.74 in (40 cm) and found in depths of around 160 ft (50 m).

Among the 23 species on the family of fusiliers, they are primarily categorized into four genera Caesio, Dipterygonotus, Gymnocaesio, and Pterocaesio. The yellowtail fusilier (Caesio teres), the redbelly yellowtail fusilier (Caesio cuning), and the Robust fusilier or yellowback fusiliers with the scientific name Caesio xanthonota, are the most popular fusiliers found in the aquarium all over the world. Each species prefers proximity to coral reefs as their home, and every species has distinct colorations and length differences. All the fusiliers found are known to form large schools and very rarely are found solitary.

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What type of animal is a fusilier fish?

Fusiliers are a family of fish found in large schools in the deep ocean.

What class of animal does a fusilier fish belong to?

Fusiliers fall under the class of Actinopterygii in the kingdom of Animalia.

How many fusilier fish are there in the world?

There are 23 known species of fusilier fish found all over the world. The total population is not known. They are found both in the Pacific Ocean and in aquariums.

Where does a fusilier fish live?

Fusilier fish are found in a large school near a coral reef in the Red Sea and Indo-Pacific. The yellowtail fusilier, also known as blue and gold fusilier, is distributed across tropical waters of the Indian Ocean to the western Pacific ocean. They are not found in the Persian Gulf or the Red Sea.

The yellowback fusilier or the robust fusilier live their life in shallow waters from the African coast to Indonesia. They are found in deep lagoons and around areas of a coral reef. They are also found in Indo-Pacific from East Africa to the Line Islands. The Robust fusilier occurs at depths from 16.4-164.04 ft (5-50 m).

The redbelly yellowtail fusilier is common in Indo-West Pacific, Sri Lanka to Vanuatu, and from southern Japan to northern Australia.

The variable-lined fusilier is only found in the Indian Ocean from Indonesia to the east coast of Africa, the Red Sea, and the Persian Gulf.

What is a fusilier fish's habitat?

Related to snappers, the fusilier fish is a deep water fish and found at depths of 160 ft (50 m). A member of the phylum Chordata, these fish are found in mid-water in deep lagoons and close to an external coral reef. They usually inhabit the tropical waters of the Indo-Pacific and the Red sea. In their habitats, a large group of fusiliers often form a school and move around. They actively swim during the daytime and shelter within the reef at night.

Who do fusilier fish live with?

Fusiliers are always known to live in large schools. Sometimes, a mixture of different species of fusiliers is also found to be living in the same large schools. The fish are rarely known to break these schools. The groups become thinner on the reef at night when to scatter to find shelters.

How long does a fusilier fish live?

The lifespan of fusilier fish is not known.

How do they reproduce?

There is not much information on the reproduction of the fusilier fish. They are always found in groups, and the groups are often a mixture of different species. The number of eggs is not known. Usually, fish lay eggs from 50-500 and sometimes even more. They migrate to selected areas around the reef and spawn near the surface of entrances of deep channels.

What is their conservation status?

The conservation status of most of the fusiliers is categorized as of Least Concern by the IUCN Red List. There is not much indication of the decrease in their population currently, and they are found abundantly in the wild and in aquariums.

What do fusilier fish look like?

They are much smaller and slender than the Snappers. Although the length of these fish goes up to 23.6 in (60 cm), most of the species are almost half the length. The upper jaws of the fusiliers are extensible, which makes it easier to feed on plankton. Most of the species are yellow and blue in color.

The yellowtail fusilier (Caesio teres) has a white belly and a blue coloration on the under-side. The upper back from the dorsal fin to the tail is yellow in color. Their fins are white in color. The yellowback fusilier has a spindle-shaped body and has a greyish-blue body with yellow at the back. The yellow is seen from the forehead to the tail and includes the dorsal and the caudal fins.

The redbelly yellowtail fusilier has a distinct reddish hue in its lower body, hence given the name redbelly. Most other fusiliers have white bellies. Although they are always yellow and blue in color at night, their color changes to red and green while resting.

How cute are they?

They are beautiful, with each species showing different colorations.

How do they communicate?

Fish communicate by sound, motion, and smell.

How big is a fusilier fish?

The length of most of the species of fusiliers goes up to 15.74 in (40 cm). Only a few of them have a length of 23.6 in (60 cm). The whale shark is the world's largest living fish species found in the ocean and has a length that has a range of 217-393 in (5.51-9.98 m). Similar to the family Caesionidae, these fish also feed on tiny plankton.

How fast can a fusilier fish fly?

Fusilier fish are quick swimmers and pass by at such high speeds that sometimes you won't even realize their presence. The measurement of speed is unavailable.

How much does a fusilier fish weigh?

The weight of the fusilier fish is not known. They are quite lightweight. One of the smaller marine fish found in the ocean beds, the clownfish, has a range of weight up to 0.55 lb (250 g). Because of their small size, they are quite popular in an aquarium.

What are the male and female names of the species?

Males and females are not given different names.

What would you call a baby fusilier fish?

Babies are called spawns.

What do they eat?

Fusilier fish are known to feed only on zooplankton. All species only feed on plankton around the reefs.

Are they dangerous?

They are not at all dangerous.

Would they make a good pet?

They make fantastic pets, and they look quite beautiful inside aquariums. It is also very easy to feed them as they only diet on zooplankton.

Did you know...

The family Caesiondae is often related to snappers. However, they feed only on zooplankton, unlike the snapper that feeds on other larger prey too.

Some species change color while resting at night.

They are not declared as endemic, but they are mostly found in Indo-Pacific and the Red Sea.

What is yellowtail fusilier?

Yellowtail fusilier fish, part of the genus Caesio, of the family Caesionidae and known by the scientific name of Caesio teres, is a species of marine fish called fusiliers. These fusiliers are known by many different names like yellow and blueback fusilier, beautiful fusilier, and blue and gold fusilier, along with the common name of yellowtail fusilier. To distinguish them easily, one has to search for the blue and yellow coloration on the back of the body. They also have a white belly. The yellowtail fusilier fish are often seen in a large school. In the young age of the fish, the yellow area can be seen starting from the neck or the front part of the dorsal fin and goes to the caudal peduncle. The caudal fin (tail fin) of the yellowtail fusilier is forked. As they grow old, the yellow coloration can be seen reduced to the caudal fin. These fish grow up to a size of 15.74 in (40 cm), and common food is zooplankton. They often live in the site having depths up to 160 ft (50 m). The yellowtail fusilier fish are found in tropical waters of the Indian Ocean, Red Sea, and the western Pacific Ocean.

They often form large schools with yellowback fusiliers (Caesio xanthonota). The groups become smaller at night. They scatter for shelter and rest at night.

Is fusilier fish high in mercury?

There are reports of the consumption of many marine species of fusilier fish around the world. The mercury levels are quite low, but the data is unavailable. The blue fusilier has a mercury content of 0.63 mg/kg.

Tilefish, a species native to the Gulf of Mexico, have around 219 micrograms of mercury. This is the species with the highest amount of mercury. Skipjack tuna, one of the most consumed seafood fish species, has around 31-49 micrograms of mercury.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly animal facts for everyone to discover! Learn more about some other fish with our longhorn cowfish facts and pumpkinseed sunfish fun facts for kids.

You can even occupy yourself at home by coloring in one of our Fusilier Fish coloring pages.