Description:

Dorsal spines: 8; Dorsal rays: 9; Anal spines: 1; Anal rays: 7.

Moderately full-bodied goatfish. Dorsal profile convex. Posterior margin of caudal-fin lobes straight to slightly convex. Barbels long reaching to posterior edge of opercle.

Body pinkish red with orange tones dorsolaterally, paler ventrally. Distinctive large black spot (3 or 4 scales wide) below posterior of first dorsal fin, followed by a large 
pale pink to white spot. A blue spot often present on each scale above lateral line, always present posteriorly. Pale blue spots, one per scale, ventrally on body, but often 
not visible. Short blue lines radiating from eye except ventrally. Barbels pale pink to white. Basal third of second dorsal fin with a broad black or blackish band. Distal 
part of fin with narrow blue and yellow bands. Anal fin with faint pale blue and yellow bands.
 

Maturity: Lm unknown. Range unknown. Max Length: 33 cm TL. Commonly to 20.0 cm TL.
 

Primarily an insular species. It occurs in seagrass beds as well as over sand, rubble, or coral and rock bottoms of shallow lagoon and seaward reefs (depth 1-70 m). Usually 
solitary. Feeds on benthic animals like crabs, polychaetes, other worms, crustacea and small fish.

This species is not protected or subject to fishery regulations. It is caught in the fish trap fishery, but is a relatively uncommon component of the catch.
 

In water photo courtesy Eleanor Brighton and Chris Mason-Parker (c) 2022 Blue Safari Seychelles/Marine Conservation Society, Seychelles. Photograph taken at Alphonse group 2022.
 

Bray, D.J. (2018). Parupeneus pleurostigma in Fishes of Australia, http://136.154.202.208/home/species/593 (19/04/20).
Froese, R. & D. Pauly. (Eds.) (2019). FishBase. https://www.fishbase.se/summary/Parupeneus-pleurostigma.html (05/06/19).
Smith-Vaniz, W.F. & Williams, I. (2016). Parupeneus pleurostigma (errata version 2017). The IUCN Red List 2016: https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T69182861A69183787.en. (19/04/20).

Nevill, J.E.G. (2019). Parupeneus pleurostigma, Sidespot goatfish. Seychelles Seatizens. www.seatizens.sc. https://seatizens.sc/species/parupeneus-pleurostigma-bennett-1831/ (edited 27/07/22).