Plectorhinchus
Encyclopedia
The sweetlips, Plectorhinchus, are a genus
in the family
Haemulidae, with 35 species
found in fresh, brackish and salt waters. These fish have big fleshy lips and tend to live on coral reefs in the Indo-Pacific in small groups or pairs. They will often associate with other fishes of similar species, and it is not unusual to see several species of sweetlips all swimming together.
They are usually seen in clusters in nooks and crannies or under overhangs. Not until night falls do they venture from their shelters to seek out their bottom-dwelling invertebrate prey, such as bristleworms
or shrimp
s and small crab
s.
Sweetlips' colouring and patterning changes throughout their lives. Adult ribboned sweetlips
(Plectorhinchus polytaenia) develop increasing stripes with age. Juvenile sweetlips generally look quite different to the adults and often live a solitary life on shallower reef sections than those where the adults are found. Juveniles may be banded or spotted and are usually a completely different colour to the adult. Small juveniles have a strange undulating way of swimming, possibly mimicking poisonous flatworm
s as a means of camouflage.
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
in the family
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
Haemulidae, with 35 species
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
found in fresh, brackish and salt waters. These fish have big fleshy lips and tend to live on coral reefs in the Indo-Pacific in small groups or pairs. They will often associate with other fishes of similar species, and it is not unusual to see several species of sweetlips all swimming together.
They are usually seen in clusters in nooks and crannies or under overhangs. Not until night falls do they venture from their shelters to seek out their bottom-dwelling invertebrate prey, such as bristleworms
Polychaete
The Polychaeta or polychaetes are a class of annelid worms, generally marine. Each body segment has a pair of fleshy protrusions called parapodia that bear many bristles, called chaetae, which are made of chitin. Indeed, polychaetes are sometimes referred to as bristle worms. More than 10,000...
or shrimp
Shrimp
Shrimp are swimming, decapod crustaceans classified in the infraorder Caridea, found widely around the world in both fresh and salt water. Adult shrimp are filter feeding benthic animals living close to the bottom. They can live in schools and can swim rapidly backwards. Shrimp are an important...
s and small crab
Crab
True crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura, which typically have a very short projecting "tail" , or where the reduced abdomen is entirely hidden under the thorax...
s.
Sweetlips' colouring and patterning changes throughout their lives. Adult ribboned sweetlips
Ribboned sweetlips
The Ribboned sweetlips, Plectorhinchus polytaenia, a sweetlips of the family Haemulidae, also known as the yellow-ribbon sweetlips, is found in East Indo-West Pacific oceans. Its length is up to 50 cm....
(Plectorhinchus polytaenia) develop increasing stripes with age. Juvenile sweetlips generally look quite different to the adults and often live a solitary life on shallower reef sections than those where the adults are found. Juveniles may be banded or spotted and are usually a completely different colour to the adult. Small juveniles have a strange undulating way of swimming, possibly mimicking poisonous flatworm
Flatworm
The flatworms, known in scientific literature as Platyhelminthes or Plathelminthes are a phylum of relatively simple bilaterian, unsegmented, soft-bodied invertebrate animals...
s as a means of camouflage.
Species
- Plectorhinchus albovittatusPlectorhinchus albovittatusPlectorhinchus albovittatus is a Grunt from the Indo-West Pacific. It occasionally makes its way into the aquarium trade. It grows to a size of 100 cm in length....
, Two-Striped Sweetlips (Rüppell, 1838) - Plectorhinchus celebicus, Celebes sweetlips Bleeker, 1873
- Plectorhinchus ceylonensis, Sri Lanka sweetlips (Smith, 1956)
- Plectorhinchus chaetodonoides, Harlequin sweetlipsHarlequin sweetlipsThe harlequin sweetlips, Plectorhinchus chaetodonoides, a sweetlips of the family Haemulidae, is found in Indo-West Pacific oceans. Its length is up to 72 cm....
Lacepède, 1801 - Plectorhinchus chrysotaenia, Yellow-Striped Sweetlips (Bleeker, 1855)
- Plectorhinchus chubbi, Dusky rubberlip (Regan, 1919)
- Plectorhinchus cinctus, Crescent sweetlips (Temminck & Schlegel, 1843)
- Plectorhinchus diagrammusPlectorhinchus diagrammusPlectorhinchus diagrammus is a Grunt from the Western Pacific. It occasionally makes its way into the aquarium trade. It grows to a size of 40cm in length....
, Striped Sweetlips (Linnaeus, 1758) - Plectorhinchus faetela (Forsskål, 1775)
- Plectorhinchus flavomaculatus, Lemon sweetlip (Cuvier, 1830)
- Plectorhinchus gaterinoides, Lined sweetlips (Smith, 1962)
- Plectorhinchus gaterinus, Blackspotted rubberlip (Forsskål, 1775)
- Plectorhinchus gibbosus, Harry hotlips (Hombron & Jacquinot, 1853)
- Plectorhinchus harrawayi (Smith, 1952)
- Plectorhinchus lessonii, Lesson's thicklip (Cuvier, 1830)
- Plectorhinchus lineatusPlectorhinchus lineatusPlectorhinchus lineatus is a Grunt from the Western Pacific. It occasionally makes its way into the aquarium trade. It grows to a size of 72cm in length....
, Yellowbanded sweetlips (Linnaeus, 1758) - Plectorhinchus macrolepis, Biglip grunt (Boulenger, 1899)
- Plectorhinchus macrospilus Satapoomin & Randall, 2000
- Plectorhinchus mediterraneus, Rubberlip grunt (Guichenot, 1850)
- Plectorhinchus multivittatus, Many-lined sweetlips (Macleay, 1878)
- Plectorhinchus nigrus (Cuvier, 1830)
- Plectorhinchus obscurus, Giant sweetlips (Günther, 1872)
- Plectorhinchus orientalisPlectorhinchus orientalisPlectorhinchus orientalis is a Grunt from the Indo-Pacific. It occasionally makes its way into the aquarium trade. It grows to a size of 86cm in length....
, Oriental sweetlipsOriental SweetlipsOriental sweetlips, Plectorhinchus vittatus, a species of sweetlips of the family Haemulidae, is found in Indo-West Pacific oceans. This common name can also refer to the species Plectorhinchus orientalis-Description:...
(Bloch, 1793) - Plectorhinchus paulayi, Zebra sweetlip Steindachner, 1895
- Plectorhinchus pictus, Trout sweetlips (Tortonese, 1936)
- Plectorhinchus picusPlectorhinchus picusPlectorhinchus picus is a Grunt from the Western Pacific. It occasionally makes its way into the aquarium trade. It grows to a size of 84cm in length....
, Painted sweetlip (Cuvier, 1830) - Plectorhinchus plagiodesmus, Barred rubberlip Fowler, 1935
- Plectorhinchus playfairi, Whitebarred rubberlip (Pellegrin, 1914)
- Plectorhinchus polytaenia, Ribboned sweetlipsRibboned sweetlipsThe Ribboned sweetlips, Plectorhinchus polytaenia, a sweetlips of the family Haemulidae, also known as the yellow-ribbon sweetlips, is found in East Indo-West Pacific oceans. Its length is up to 50 cm....
(Bleeker, 1852) - Plectorhinchus punctatissimus (Playfair, 1868)
- Plectorhinchus schotaf, Minstrel sweetlip (Forsskål, 1775)
- Plectorhinchus sordidus, Sordid rubberlip (Klunzinger, 1870)
- Plectorhinchus umbrinus (Klunzinger, 1870)
- Plectorhinchus unicolor (Macleay, 1883)
- Plectorhinchus vittatus, Oriental SweetlipsOriental SweetlipsOriental sweetlips, Plectorhinchus vittatus, a species of sweetlips of the family Haemulidae, is found in Indo-West Pacific oceans. This common name can also refer to the species Plectorhinchus orientalis-Description:...
(Linnaeus, 1758)
External links
- Genus Plectorhinchus. FishBaseFishBaseFishBase is a comprehensive database of information about fish species . It is the largest and most extensively accessed online database on adult finfish on the web...
. Ed. Ranier Froese and Daniel Pauly. February 2007 version. N.p.: FishBase, 2007.