Common Name
Black Grunt
Year Described
Cuvier, 1830
Identification
Dorsal Fin: XII, 15-16
Anal Fin: III, 8-9 (usually 8)
Gill Rakers: 18-24 (total on first arch)
Lateral Line Scales: 45-48
Soft dorsal and anal fins almost completely scaled. Scale rows under lateral line oblique to body axis.
Color
Body silvery, becoming dusky to dark on the upper body and head. Horizontal to slightly oblique dark stripes run along body (more or less continuous and not broken up). All fins dusky to black.
Size
Common to 30cm TL. Maximum size to 40cm TL.
Habitat
Found over soft mud or sandy bottoms and outer reef flats. Mostly in small groups near the bottom.
Range
Southern Gulf of Mexico, off Jamaica, and from Panama to Brazil. Poorly known from the rest of the Caribbean.
References
Lindeman, K.C. 2002. Haemulidae (pp. 1522-1550). In: Carpenter. 2002. The living marine resources of the Western Central Atlantic. Vol. 3: Bony fishes part 2 (Opistognathidae to Molidae). FAO Species Identification Guides for Fisheries Purposes. American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists Special Publication No. 5. FAO of the U.N., Rome.