Tara’s Fave Fish Friday – Girdled Scalyfin (Girdled Parma)

Welcome to Tara’s Fave Fish Friday! Where we explore one of Tara’s favorite fish from the Solitary Islands Marine Park.
Today’s fave fish is the Girdled Scalyfin, which we know more commonly as Girdled Parma – Parma unifasciata
These fish are actually not a favorite of mine at all, but “Tara’s most annoying fish friday” doesn’t quite have the same ring to it! They are very common in the Solitary Islands Marine Park at most of our dive sites, and they are frequently found being very territorial and angry specifically in the swim through at Shark Gutters, as you can see from the video posted on facebook and instagram. They grow up to 18cm, and feed on zooplankton mid-water.
The Juveniles have quite different colouring from the adults, with yellow and bright blue details, and the shadows of the black and white stripes visible underneath the yellow.
Check out a video of these fish on our instagram and facebook!
 
Sources:
Parma unifasciata – SURG.org.au
Photo by Tara, 25/10/2021.