The Indo-Pacific sergeant may also be known as the Sergeant major although this name is usually reserved for the closely related species Abudefduf saxatilis.

Range

The Indo-Pacific sergeant is found from the Red Sea

Red Sea

The Red Sea is a seawater inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. The connection to the ocean is in the south through the Bab el Mandeb strait and the Gulf of Aden. In the north, there is the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and the Gulf of Suez...

 to South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

, as far as Southeast Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

 and South Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

. Recently also found in the Mediterranean.

Description

Often confused with the closely related Atlantic species Abudefduf saxatilis, the Indo-Pacific sergeant is pale in colour becoming yellowish above with five vertical black bars. Its ground colour becomes bluish during courtship. It reaches up to 20cm in length and tends to be found in groups.