Name: Smallscale Sandperch
Local name: Sehlyatalbahr
Scientific name: Parapercis robinsoni
Classification: Class: ray-finned fishes; Order: perch-likes; Family: sandperches (Pinguipedidae)
Synonym: Parapercis nebulosa, Parapercis clathrata
Size: It attains a total length of 26 cm.
Habitat:
The species inhabits sand and rubble substrata, often near reefs, propping themselves with their pelvic fins. They live in shallow water down to depths of at least 50 m, feeding on small fishes and benthic invertebrates.
Distribution:
The Smallscale Sandperch is restricted to the Western Indian Ocean, from eastern Africa in the west, via southern Arabia and the Arabian Gulf to Pakistan in the east.
Conservation status:
It has not yet been assessed globally by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. In a regional assessment for the Arabian Gulf it was classified as Least Concern (LC). It is occasionally caught as bycatch, but has no importance to fisheries.
Description:
The body is elongate and nearly cylindrical anteriorly. The eyes are oriented dorsolaterally. The mouth is moderately large, somewhat oblique, with the lower jaw slightly projecting. The caudal fin is truncate to slightly emarginate. A dark-edged midlateral white stripe extends from the head to the caudal fin. The body above the stripe is grey with eight large dark blotches, the body below the stripe being white with seven narrow dark bars, and there is a grey or blackish blotch each at the base of upper and lower caudal rays.
