Common Name
Bronzestriped Grunt
Year Described
Metzelaar, 1919
Identification
Dorsal Fin: XIII-XIV, 11-15 (usually 13-14)
Anal Fin: III, 7-9 (usually 8)
Gill Rakers: 30-36 (total on first arch)
Lateral Line Scales: 49-54
Body moderately elongate with a shallower forehead profile than most Haemulon spp. Soft dorsal and anal fins almost completely scaled. Scale rows under lateral line parallel to body axis. 23-27 scales around caudal peduncle.
Color
Body and head silvery, becoming darker dorsally. A pale yellowish sheen ventrally. Oblique darker and lighter bands along scale rows. Lateral line dark. A dark blotch often present on the base of the tail, especially in smaller fish. Pelvic, pectoral, and anal fins pale yellowish. Dorsal fin and tail dark. Younger fish with several bronze stripes on the dorsal half of the body.
Size
Common to 13cm TL. Maximum size to 20cm TL.
Habitat
Found over soft bottoms in protected waters (<100m). This species is a plankton feeder that forms schools, often far off the bottom.
Range
Southern Caribbean: Colombia to French Guiana.
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.