Silver drummer
The silver drummer, scientifically named Kyphosus sydneyanus, is a large sea fish in the drum family Kyphosidae. It’s also called buff bream, buffs, common buffalo bream, drummer bream, Southern silver drummer, or Sydney drummer.
Where it lives: This fish is found in the southeastern Indian Ocean and the southwestern Pacific Ocean, around Australia and New Zealand. It usually stays in shallow water near rocky reefs. In Australia it ranges from Western Australia’s Shark Bay down to the southern coast, east to Tasmania, and up to Fraser Island in Queensland, including nearby Tasman Sea islands like Lord Howe and Norfolk Island. In New Zealand it’s most common around the North Island.
What it looks like: The silver drummer has an oval to circular body and a bulging head profile. It has a long dorsal fin with a spiny front part and a soft rear part. It can grow up to about 80 cm long and weigh up to 1.1 kg. Its color is olive to silvery-grey or bronzy, usually darker on top and lighter underneath. There’s a broad dark edge on the tail fin, a reddish-brown bar from the upper jaw over the gill cover, a pale bar under the eye, and a small black spot near the base of the pectoral fin. It has many scales along the side of its body.
Behavior and diet: Silver drummers often swim in large schools, sometimes mixing with other similar fish. They mostly eat brown algae (like Ecklonia radiata) and red algae. They have a well-developed hind gut with a sphincter and microbial fermentation to help digest the algae.
Angling and humans: The fish is known for putting up a good fight when caught, so it’s popular with anglers. However, many people think the meat isn’t good to eat.
Taxonomy note: The species was first described in 1886 as Pimelepterus sydneyanus by Albert Günther, with Port Jackson, New South Wales as the type locality.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 14:06 (CET).