The caudal fin is pale with a black rear edge which gets wider towards the tips of the lobes, and has a very wide pale submarginal area which frequently has a chevron-shaped blackish band or a row of dusky spots running parallel to the edge.

[3] There is a distinct patch of red colour on the anal fin and the upper and lower lobes of the tail are pointed.

[2] Kuhlia marginata is a widespread Indo-Pacific specs which occurs from Japan in the north to Australia in the south and east into the central Pacific as far as the Caroline Islands.

[3] Kuhlia marginata spends most of its adult life in freshwater where there are flowing rivers and in pools below waterfalls as far as 64 kilometres (40 miles) upstream.

It cannot get past waterfalls so tends to occur in the lower and mid-catchments of river systems where it prefers steep fast-flowing streams.