The Indian Ocean oriental sweetlips (''Plectorhinchus vittatus''), also known as the oriental sweetlips or oriental blubberlips, is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

of marine

ray-finned fish Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fishes, is a class of bony fish. They comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species. The ray-finned fishes are so called because their fins are webs of skin supported by bony or h ...

, a sweetlips belonging to the subfamily Plectorhinchinae, one of two subfamilies in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Haemulidae Haemulidae is a family of fishes in the order Perciformes known commonly as grunts. It is made up of the two subfamilies Haemulinae (grunters) and Plectorhynchinae (sweetlips), which in turn contain about 133 species in 19 genera. These fish ar ...

, the grunts. It is native to the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by t ...

and the western

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contin ...

Description

The Indian Ocean oriental sweetlips has fleshy lips which become greatly swollen as the fish ages. There are 6 pores on its chin but there is no median pit. The

dorsal fin A dorsal fin is a fin located on the back of most marine and freshwater vertebrates within various taxa of the animal kingdom. Many species of animals possessing dorsal fins are not particularly closely related to each other, though through c ...

contains 12–14 spines and 16–20 soft rays while the anal fin has 3 spines and 7–8 soft rays. The adults of this species have a basic light greyish colour of which fades to white on the abdomen. It has alternating black and white stripes. the black stripes normally broader on the upper body, the fins are yellow, as are the snout and forehead, The dorsal, anal and

caudal fin Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as ...

s are marked with blackish spots. The subadults have wide stripes on their head, body and fins while the juveniles have black blotches and spots that are joined but which slowly split into longitudinal stripes as they grow, the pectoral fins of juveniles are black. This species attains a maximum

total length Fish measurement is the measuring of individual fish and various parts of their anatomies. These data are used in many areas of ichthyology, including taxonomy and fisheries biology. Overall length * Standard length (SL) is the length of a fish ...

of .

Distribution

The Indian Ocean oriental sweetlips is found in the Indo-Pacific region. Its range extends from East Africa from Djibouti to South Africa, Madagascar, the Seychelles and

Mascarene Islands The Mascarene Islands (, ) or Mascarenes or Mascarenhas Archipelago is a group of islands in the Indian Ocean east of Madagascar consisting of the islands belonging to the Republic of Mauritius as well as the French department of Réunion. Their ...

, the

Gulf of Mannar The Gulf of Mannar ( ) is a large shallow bay forming part of the Laccadive Sea in the Indian Ocean with an average depth of .

in India and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands east to

Micronesia Micronesia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania, consisting of about 2,000 small islands in the western Pacific Ocean. It has a close shared cultural history with three other island regions: the Philippines to the west, Polynesia to the east, and ...

, Samoa, the

Society Islands The Society Islands (french: Îles de la Société, officially ''Archipel de la Société;'' ty, Tōtaiete mā) are an archipelago located in the South Pacific Ocean. Politically, they are part of French Polynesia, an overseas country of the ...

and

Guam Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...

. It can alsdo be found from

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

to Papua New Guinea and New Caledonia.

Habitat and biology

The Indian Ocean oriental sweetlips inhabits shallow, coastal coral reefs, lagoons and seaward reefs at depths of . It is found singly or in small aggregations and is tends to be nocturnal. The juveniles may be found in tidepools and in beds of

sea grass Seagrasses are the only flowering plants which grow in marine (ocean), marine environments. There are about 60 species of fully marine seagrasses which belong to four Family (biology), families (Posidoniaceae, Zosteraceae, Hydrocharitaceae an ...

. It forages at night feeding on small invertebrates such crustaceans, gastropods or annelids, as well as smaller fishes. It is an oviparous species which spawns as distinct pairs.

Systematics

The Indian Ocean oriental sweetlips was first formally described as ''Perca vittata'' in 1758 by Carl Linnaeus in the 10th edition of the Systema Naturae with no type locality given. The specific name, ''vittatus'' means "banded", a reference to the bold striped pattern of adults. Some authorities regard Bloch's '' Plectorhinchus orientalis'' as a separate species rather than a synonym of ''P. vittatus''.

Utilisation

The Indian Ocean oriental sweetlips is caught by fisheries in much of its range, and is caught using hand nets and by

spear fishing Spearfishing is a method of fishing that involves impaling the fish with a straight pointed object such as a spear, gig or harpoon. It has been deployed in artisanal fishing throughout the world for millennia. Early civilisations were familia ...

and the catch is sold fresh or a small amount of it is preserved as

salted fish Salted fish, such as kippered herring or dried and salted cod, is fish cured with dry salt and thus preserved for later eating. Drying or salting, either with dry salt or with brine, was the only widely available method of preserving fish u ...

. It is being trialled for aquaculture. It is an infrequently traded species in the aquarium trade.

References

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q1433728 Indian Ocean oriental sweetlips Fish of Palau Fish described in 1758 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus