Banana fusilier :

EnglishName: Banana fusilier
Local Name : Mas muguraan
Size : Common to 10 cm; max. 21 cm
Family: LUTJANIDAE
Order : Perciformes
Distinctive Characters: Dorsal fin with 10 spines and 15 (rarely 14 or 16) rays. Anal fin with 3 spines and 12 (rarely 11 or 13) rays. Pectoral fin with 18-20 rays. Body depth 3.8-4.2 in standard length. Body fusiform, elongate and compressed. Bases of dorsal and anal fin covered with scales.
Colour: Dark red to silvery, paler ventrally. Lateral line darker than the background colouration. No stripes or bands on sides. Snout often yellowish. Tips of caudal lobes dark red to black.
Habitat and Biology: Inhabits coastal waters and coral and rocky reef. A schooling fish, sometimes in groups with other species of the genus. Feeds on zooplankton in midwater aggregations.
Distribution: Indo-West Pacific.
Remarks: Pterocaesio pisang is a bait of major importance of tuna fishery in the Maldives. Around Male�?, fusiliers are used as live bait most frequently during the northeast monsoon season. Fusiliers are previously recorded under the family Caesionidae.

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