''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 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 hor ...

, a sweetlips belonging to the

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

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 ...

. 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. 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 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 ...

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 ...

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, 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 P ...

in the

Tasman Sea The Tasman Sea (Māori: ''Te Tai-o-Rēhua'', ) 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 Abe ...

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 (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapods, seed shrimp, branchiopods, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopods, barnacles, copepods, amphipods and mantis shrimp. The crustacean group ...

molluscs Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant taxon, extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil sp ...

annelids The annelids (Annelida , from Latin ', "little ring"), also known as the segmented worms, are a large phylum, with over 22,000 extant species including ragworms, earthworms, and leeches. The species exist in and have adapted to various ecolo ...

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

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 Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

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

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

. 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 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 ...

, 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