Bastard Trumpeter

Interesting Info

• The Bastard Trumpeter is a silvery reef fish with coppery lines and a deep forked tail that make it a strong swimmer.
• In Australia it lives from the southern coast of New South Wales, around Victoria and Tasmania, and west to eastern South Australia.
• Worldwide it is also found in New Zealand, from Stewart Island in the south to the Three Kings Islands in the north, and out to the Chatham Islands.
• Juveniles are nicknamed “paper fish” because their bodies are thin, flat and almost see-through.
• They live near the bottom from shallow 2 m (6 ft) reefs down to 60 m (200 ft), and sometimes as deep as 160 m (520 ft).
• Typical habitats include sandy areas beside rocky reefs, especially exposed coastlines where waves bring food.
• They feed on seafloor invertebrates such as snails, clams, crabs, brittle stars and marine worms.
• Bastard Trumpeter can gather in large schools of hundreds or even thousands, though small groups are also common.
• Spawning occurs offshore, with young fish drifting as plankton before settling onto shallow reefs in sudden “recruitment pulses.”
• They are slow-growing and long-lived, with lifespans of up to about 20 years.
• As adults, they move into deeper waters, leaving the shallows to the transparent “paper fish” juveniles.
• The odd name “bastard trumpeter” came from fishers wanting to tell it apart from the true trumpeter (Latris lineata).
• They are highly prized as a food fish in Tasmania, with moist, oily flesh considered excellent eating.
• In Tasmania the species has been heavily fished and stocks are now considered depleted, though conservation rules aim to help recovery.
• The species name forsteri honours Johann Reinhold Forster, a naturalist who sailed with Captain Cook.