Siganus Forsskal, 1775
Body deep, head small; snout rounded; front nasal opening with a welldeveloped flap. Mouth small, upper lip high; maxillae ends before front of eye, usually beneath posterior nasal opening. Skin smooth, scales tiny, cycloid.
Habitat: inshore waters close to bottom in depths not exceeding 40 m. In small schools. Caught in small quantities in Israel and Lebanon in gill-nets, trammel-nets and beach-seines; in one case (Herzberg, 1973) eating the fish caused light intoxication. Food: seaweeds, mostly red algae (Lundberg, 1981). Reproduction: June-August (Popper, 1979).
Distribution: eastern Mediterranean, reported from Aegean Sea, Cyprus. Lebanon, Israel and Tunisia. A Suez Canal immigrant known from the Red Sea, tropical East Africa, Mauritius and Seychelles.
Species about 20; in Clofnam area 2.
Species of this genus in the program:
Siganus luridus
Siganus rivulatus