Lobotidae

Lobotes surinamensis (Bloch, 1790) —Atlantic tripletail

STATUS AT MADANG. First record from Madang by Kailola (1975: 140). AMS, KFRS and WAM material. DISTRIBUTION AND HABITAT. Mediterranean Sea, tropical and warm temperate waters of Atlantic Ocean, southwestern Indian Ocean, southern Japan, New Guinea and New Caledonia to Tuvalu. Adults found in bays, muddy estuaries and lower reaches of large rivers; offshore often floating near the surface in the company of floating objects, occasionally drifting over reefs; juveniles may occur in floating Sargassum and mimic a floating leaf, 0– 2 m. Freshwater, transitional water and marine.