Grammistes sexlineatus also known as Golden-striped Grouper, or Sixline soapfish is a small grouper from the Indo-Pacific

Indo-Pacific

The Indo-Pacific is a biogeographic region of the Earth's seas, comprising the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean, the western and central Pacific Ocean, and the seas connecting the two in the general area of Indonesia...

, occurring between the Red Sea

Red Sea

The Red Sea is a seawater inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. The connection to the ocean is in the south through the Bab el Mandeb strait and the Gulf of Aden. In the north, there is the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and the Gulf of Suez...

 and Polynesia

Polynesia

Polynesia is a subregion of Oceania, made up of over 1,000 islands scattered over the central and southern Pacific Ocean. The indigenous people who inhabit the islands of Polynesia are termed Polynesians and they share many similar traits including language, culture and beliefs...

, the southern part of Japan and the Great Barrier Reef

Great Barrier Reef

The Great Barrier Reef is the world'slargest reef system composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over 2,600 kilometres over an area of approximately...

. It is found in turbid lagoon

Lagoon

A lagoon is a body of shallow sea water or brackish water separated from the sea by some form of barrier. The EU's habitat directive defines lagoons as "expanses of shallow coastal salt water, of varying salinity or water volume, wholly or partially separated from the sea by sand banks or shingle,...

s at depths between 1 and 40 m.

Appearance

This soapfish shows a characteristic striped pattern. As a juvenile six white stripes run down the dark brown body of the fish. As an adult the lines separate out into dotted lines. The adult size of this fish is 30 cm (12 inches).

In the aquarium

While not a particularly difficult fish to keep in a marine aquarium

Marine aquarium

A marine aquarium is an aquarium that keeps marine plants and animals in a contained environment. Marine aquaria are further subdivided by hobbyists into fish only , fish only with live rock , and reef aquaria. Fish only tanks often showcase large or aggressive marine fish species and generally...

, it is often avoided because of the toxic slime it can give off from the glands in its dermis

Dermis

The dermis is a layer of skin between the epidermis and subcutaneous tissues, and is composed of two layers, the papillary and reticular dermis...

 if stressed. Under the wrong circumstances this can result in the death of any other fish in the aquarium. Provided they are kept in a low stress environment they can be kept with other fish, but when shipped the water in the bag containing the fish should not be added to the aquarium.

This fish is usually peaceful with fish that are not small enough for it to eat. It should not be placed with Damselfish

Damselfish

Damselfish comprise the family Pomacentridae except those of the genera Amphiprion and Premnas. They can grow up to long. While most are marine, a few species inhabit the lower stretches of rivers in freshwater. Damselfish usually have bright colors. in tropical coral reefs, and many of those are...

or other small fish which will typically be eaten. The minimum aquarium size to keep this fish is 60 gallons.

Sources

• fishbase Page on Grammistes sexlineatus

• animalworld.com page on Golden-striped Grouper