Common Name
Bluestriped Grunt
Year Described
Shaw, 1803
Identification
Dorsal Fin: XII, 16-17
Anal Fin: III, 9
Gill Rakers: 27-31 (total on first arch)
Lateral Line Scales: 48-51
Preopercle not serrated. Soft dorsal and anal fins almost completely scaled. Scale rows under lateral line slightly oblique to body axis. Scales above and below lateral line equal in size.
Color
Body and head pale to bright yellow or gold with numerous blue stripes that are slightly narrower than yellow interspaces. Blue stripes are horizontal on entire body and head and sometimes break up into spots ventrally. Pelvic, anal, pectoral, and spiny dorsal fin are pale to bright yellow. Soft dorsal fin is dusky to black with a yellow outer margin. Caudal fin dusky to black basally, with a yellow edge and outer margin.
Size
Common to 30cm TL. Maximum size to 40cm TL.
Habitat
Various hard and soft bottom habitats near rocky and coral reefs (<40m). Often forms large schools.
Range
South Carolina to Brazil, including the S. Gulf of Mexico and the entire Caribbean Sea. Also Bermuda.
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.