Common Buffalo Bream

Kyphosus gladius 

The common buffalo bream has a large, robust silver body, a black band on the outer section of the tail and a small black spot below the pectoral fin. They grow to a maximum size of 86 centimetres. Off the coast of Western Australia common buffalo bream can be found in large schools on the deep reefs cruising below rough swells, although single fish are often seen along the southern and eastern coasts of Australia. They are rarely found below depths of 30 metres. Large adults can become territorial and inhabit the same reef system for long periods of time, where they feed on beds of brown algae, and consequently have an unpleasant ‘weedy’ flavour. They are found in cooler waters of Western Australia between the Houtman Abrolhos and Albany.

Other common names include: Silver drummer, buff bream

Occurrence at the Busselton Jetty

Common buffalo bream are often seen around the Busselton Jetty in their juvenile stage with small schools of fishes swimming around the Observatory. Occasionally larger adult fish are seen, but not in the large schools that are common over algal reefs on the west coast.