Ruddy Fusilier

Pterocaesio pisang has a fusiform and elongated body which is moderately laterally compressed. There are small conical teeth in the jaws and on the vomer and palatines. The dorsal fin contains 10–11 spines and 14–16 soft rays while the anal fin has 3 spines and 11–13 soft rays. There are scales on both the dorsal and anal fins. There are 18–20 rays in the pectoral fins. This species attains a maximum total length of 21 cm (8.3 in). The banana fusilier has a yellowish snout and upper eye, the back and upper flanks are greyish-blue shading to pink on the lower flanks and belly. The tips of the caudal fin lobes are dark red. There are no stripes along its flanks, but there is a clear black lateral line.

Pterocaesio pisang has a wide Indo-Pacific distribution. It is found along the coast of East Africa from southern Somalia to Mozambique, with a seemingly isolated population around Socotra, but it is absent from the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf. In the Pacific it extends east as far as Fiji, north to the Ryukyu Islands south to Australia where it is found from Scott Reef of Western Australia, the Ashmore Reef in the Timor Sea and along the northern Great Barrier Reef as far south as the waters of Tully, Queensland. This species is found at depths between 1 and 100 m (3 ft 3 in and 328 ft 1 in) but are commonest at depths lower than 30 m (98 ft). It occurs around coastal, lagoon and seaward reefs.