Common Name
Butter Hamlet
Year Described
Walbaum, 1792
Identification
Dorsal Fin: X, 14-17
Anal Fin: III, 7
Pectoral Fin: 13-14
Pelvic Fin: I, 5
Lateral Line: 48-53
Gill Rakers: 17-23 on first arch
Body robust and laterally compressed. Steeply sloping head profile. Dorsal fin continuous with no obvious notch between spiny and soft portions. Anal fin much smaller than dorsal fin. Caudal fin is typically truncate to slightly emarginate. The mouth is large and terminal, with the lower jaw often slightly projecting. Jaws bear villiform teeth, with an inner band of enlarged canines. Scales are ctenoid and cover the body and much of the head. The lateral line is continuous and curves gently along the upper body.
Color
Body pearly white, grading to gray, purplish, or bluish above. The ventral body and head have a strong yellow wash. A black blotch on the caudal peduncle is distinctive. Another blotch is variably expressed on the snout, as well as blue lines and spots. Dorsal fin body colored with yellow anteriorly. Pelvic and anal fins yellowish.
Size
Maximum size to 13cm SL.
Habitat
Coral reefs from 3-60m.
Range
South Carolina to the S. Caribbean, including the northern and eastern Gulf of Mexico.
References
Lobel, P.S. 2011. A review of the Caribbean hamlets (Serranidae, Hypoplectrus) with description of two new species. Zootaxa No. 3096: 1-17.
McEachran, J.D. and J.D. Fechhelm. 2005. Fishes of the Gulf of Mexico. Volume 2: Scorpaeniformes to Tetraodontiformes. University of Texas Press, Austin. i-viii +1-1004.
Other Notes
The first described hamlet and one that has frequently been the name-bearer for taxonomic lumpers who consider all hamlets to be one species. While it is unlikely that all are one species, the exact number of hamlets in the Caribbean region are still undefined and seem to be a very recent evolutionary radiation. They tend to interbreed only with like colored individuals but have very shallow genetic divergence. Juveniles, oddly enough, look very much alike and similar the the young of H. unicolor.