Common Name
Spanish Grunt
Year Described
Günther, 1859
Identification
Dorsal Fin: XII, 15-17 (usually 16)
Anal Fin: III, 9
Gill Rakers: 26-28 (total on first arch)
Lateral Line Scales: 50-52
Preopercle not serrated. Soft dorsal and anal fins almost completely scaled. Scale rows under lateral line oblique to body axis.
Color
Body silvery with four obvious dark stripes on the dorsal half of the body, and thinner dark stripes and spots in between the major stripes and on the head. The dorsum is often bright yellowish running along the dorsal fin base. The belly is dark overall. A yellow saddle spot is present on the upper caudal peduncle. The dorsal fin is dark with a yellowish posterior margin. The caudal fin has a dark Y-shaped marking and a yellowish edge. Anal and pelvic fins dark with a whitish anterior margin. The pectoral fin is yellowish.
Size
Common to 30cm TL. Maximum size to 45cm TL.
Habitat
Reef associated (rocky and coral), to a depth of 40m. Forms large schools near the bottom.
Range
S. Florida to the Caribbean islands. Also the continental coast from Panama to Brazil.
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.