Sea goldie habitat
Pseudanthias squamipinnis occurs above coral outcrops, patch reefs of clear lagoons, channels, our outer reef slopes in large aggregations. This species is territorial and tends to stay within 20 m of their home rock or coral outcrop (Popper and Fishelson 1973). This species is a pelagic spawner and feeds on zooplankton (Randall et al. 1990, Anderson and Hafiz 1995, Allsop and West 2003). The maximum recorded length for this species is 15 cm total length (TL) (Lieske and Myers 1994).
This species is a protogynous hermaphrodite and males are territorial and haremic. Female to male change is induced by the absence or removal of males from social groups with sex-reversal being completed in 2-4 weeks (Sadovy and Shapiro 1987, Shapiro 1988).