Common Name
Brownstriped Grunt
Year Described
Ranzani, 1842
Identification
Dorsal Fin: XII, 15-17
Anal Fin: III, 9
Gill Rakers: 15-16 (lower limb of first arch)
Lateral Line Scales: 56-58
Body deep with a steeply sloped forehead profile. Mouth small. Soft dorsal and anal fins scaled at base. There are 7-8 scales above the lateral line.
Color
Body dark brown with 5-6 cream to yellow stripes. Light stripes can be thicker to thinner than dark stripes. There is a dark blotch on the caudal peduncle. Two small saddle spots on the upper caudal peduncle in young fish, becoming obscure with age. Head dark brown with a large vertical area of whitish pigment on the opercular flap. There are two pale stripes under eye and a dark blotch on the posterior of the opercle. Pelvic fin dark brown. Other fins medium brown.
Size
Maximum size to 18cm TL.
Habitat
Inshore bottom dweller.
Range
Southern Caribbean Sea from Panama to Venezuela. Also northeastern 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.
Other Notes
Used to be classified in Anisotremus.