Coral reefs are under increasing anthropogenic stress globally, leading to mass bleaching events with flow-on effects on fishes that utilise reef habitats. Subtropical coral reefs have been postulated to be refugia for reef associated taxa as range shifts occur, however, they remain understudied relative to tropical counterparts. Furthermore, baseline ecological data is crucial to understanding such ecosystems as they stand to change through the Anthropocene. This study used remote underwater video systems (RUVS) to characterise fish assemblages within the subtropical reef lagoon of Norfolk Island. RUVS were deployed on bare sandy patches, on the reef flat and on the sand-reef interface to record presence and abundance of as wide a range of species as possible across all habitat types present at the study site. Footage was processed for MaxN of any species observed. Whilst species richness and diversity did not change between sampling occasions nor sites, spatial and temporal differences in fish species assemblages were detected; primarily driven by reef associated wrasses such as Thalassoma amblycephalum, T. lunare and Gomphosus varius and corallivorous Chaetodon butterflyfishes. This research provides novel insight into the fish assemblages of an understudied reef system under increasing anthropogenic pressures.