''Diagramma centurio'', the painted sweetlips, Australian slatey, greysweetlips, painted blubber-lips or yellowdot sweetlips, is a species of marine

ray-finned fish Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fish or actinopterygians, is a class of bony fish that comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species. They are so called because of their lightly built fins made of webbings of sk ...

, a sweetlips belonging to the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Haemulidae Haemulidae is a family (biology), family of fishes in the order (biology), order Perciformes known commonly as grunts. It is made up of the two subfamily, subfamilies Haemulinae (grunts) and Plectorhynchinae (sweetlips), which contain about 133 ...

. It is found in the

Indo-Pacific The Indo-Pacific is a vast biogeographic region of Earth. In a narrow sense, sometimes known as the Indo-West Pacific or Indo-Pacific Asia, it comprises the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean, the western and central Pacific Ocean, and the ...

region.

Description

''Diagramma labiosum'' has fleshy lips that become more swollen as the fish matures. The chin has six pores on it but there is no median pit. The dorsal fin contains 9-10 spines and 22-25 soft rays while the anal fin contains 3 spines and 7 soft rays. It is slate-grey in colour, the adults and subadults being unmarked unlike the spotted, parapatric painted sweetlips (''D. pictum''). The juveniles are dark brown to black dorsally, split into 3 or more wide horizontal stripes by narrower whitish-blue stripes; they silvery yellow ventrally. The dorsal and caudal fins are yellow with black blotches and discontinuous stripes which grow with age and fragment into small circular spots before fading away in adults. As the fish matures from a juvenile to an adult the caudal fin form changes from being rounded to truncate. This species attains a maximum recorded

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

of and a maximum published weight of .

Distribution

''Diagramma labiosum'' is found in the eastern Indian Ocean and southwestern Pacific Ocean. Its range encompasses southern New Guinea and northern Australia. In Australia its range extends from the

Houtman Abrolhos Islands The Houtman Abrolhos (often called the Abrolhos Islands) is a chain of 122 islands and associated coral reefs in the Indian Ocean off the west coast of Australia about west of Geraldton, Western Australia. It is the southernmost true coral re ...

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, including

Lord Howe Island Lord Howe Island (; formerly Lord Howe's Island) is an irregularly crescent-shaped volcanic remnant in the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand, part of the Australian state of New South Wales. It lies directly east of mainland Port ...

in the

Tasman Sea The Tasman Sea is a marginal sea of the South Pacific Ocean, situated between Australia and New Zealand. It measures about across and about from north to south. The sea was named after the Dutch explorer Abel Janszoon Tasman, who in 1642 wa ...

Habitat and biology

''Diagramma labiosum'' is found at depths between over soft substrates within sea grass beds, mangroves and coral reefs. The juveniles are found in estuaries and lagoons. It is found in large schools. It feeds on

crustaceans Crustaceans (from Latin meaning: "those with shells" or "crusted ones") are invertebrate animals that constitute one group of Arthropod, arthropods that are traditionally a part of the subphylum Crustacea (), a large, diverse group of mainly aquat ...

molluscs Mollusca is a phylum of protostome, protostomic invertebrate animals, whose members are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 76,000 extant taxon, extant species of molluscs are recognized, making it the second-largest animal phylum ...

annelids The annelids (), also known as the segmented worms, are animals that comprise the phylum Annelida (; ). The phylum contains over 22,000 extant species, including ragworms, earthworms, and leeches. The species exist in and have adapted to vario ...

cephalopods A cephalopod is any member of the molluscan Taxonomic rank, class Cephalopoda (Greek language, Greek plural , ; "head-feet") such as a squid, octopus, cuttlefish, or nautilus. These exclusively marine animals are characterized by bilateral symm ...

and fishes.

Systematics

''Diagramma labiosum'' Was first formally described in 1883 by the

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

-born

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

naturalist Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

William John Maclean with the type locality given as Wide Bay in

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

. This species is regarded as a subspecies of the painted sweetlips (''D. pictum'') by some authorities, while others also classify ''Diagramma melanacrum'' within the same species as ''D. labiosum'' and ''D. pictum'', ''D. pictum''. The specific name ''labiosum'' means “thick lipped”, referring to the smooth and fleshy lips of this species.

Utilisation

''Diagramma labiosum'' is a common species which is caught using handlines and by

spearfishing Spearfishing is fishing using handheld elongated, sharp-pointed tools such as a spear, gig, or harpoon, to impale the fish in the body. It was one of the earliest fishing techniques used by mankind, and has been deployed in artisanal fishi ...

, the flesh is sold fresh. In Queensland a maximum of 5 per day, in a total reef fish maximum catch of 20 per day, may be taken by recreational fishers.

References

{{taxonbar, from= Q2228293 labiosum Fish described in 1883