''Haemulon'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

fish A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic animal, aquatic, Anamniotes, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fish fin, fins and craniate, a hard skull, but lacking limb (anatomy), limbs with digit (anatomy), digits. Fish can ...

in the grunt family known as the scaled-fin grunts. Most are found in the western

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

, with a few species known from the eastern

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

.Rocha, L. A. and I. L. Rosa. (1999)
New species of ''Haemulon'' (Teleostei: Haemulidae) from the northeastern Brazilian coast.
''Copeia'' (1999)2 447–52. This genus is considered to be one of the most important fish groups of the

coral reef A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in group ...

s of

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

due to its commercial value and crucial ecological role.Pereira, P. H. C. and B. P. Ferreira. (2012)
Agonistic behaviour among ''Haemulon'' spp. (Actinopterygii: Haemulidae) and other coral reef fishes in northeastern Brazil.
''Cybium'' 36(2) 361–67.

Species

The 23 or so species in this genus include:Froese, R. and D. Pauly, eds
''Haemulon'': Species.
FishBase. 2017. * '' Haemulon album'' G. Cuvier, 1830 (white margate) * ''

Haemulon aurolineatum ''Haemulon'' is a genus of fish in the Haemulidae, grunt family known as the scaled-fin grunts. Most are found in the western Atlantic Ocean, with a few species known from the eastern Pacific Ocean.Rocha, L. A. and I. L. Rosa. (1999)New species ...

'' G. Cuvier, 1830 (tomtate grunt) * '' Haemulon bonariense'' G. Cuvier, 1830 (black grunt) * '' Haemulon boschmae'' ( Metzelaar, 1919) (bronzestripe grunt) * '' Haemulon carbonarium'' Poey, 1860 (caesar grunt) * '' Haemulon chrysargyreum'' Günther, 1859 (smallmouth grunt) * '' Haemulon flaviguttatum'' T. N. Gill, 1862 (yellowspotted grunt) * '' Haemulon flavolineatum'' ( Desmarest, 1823) (French grunt) * '' Haemulon macrostomum'' Günther, 1859 (Spanish grunt) * ''

Haemulon maculicauda ''Haemulon'' is a genus of fish in the grunt family known as the scaled-fin grunts. Most are found in the western Atlantic Ocean, with a few species known from the eastern Pacific Ocean.Rocha, L. A. and I. L. Rosa. (1999)New species of ''Haemul ...

'' (T. N. Gill, 1862) (spottail grunt) * '' Haemulon melanurum'' (

Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...

, 1758) (cottonwick grunt) * '' Haemulon parra'' ( Desmarest, 1823) (sailor's grunt) * ''

Haemulon plumierii ''Haemulon plumierii'', the white grunt or common grunt, is a species of ray-finned fish in the family Haemulidae native to the western Atlantic Ocean. It grows to a length of about and is a silvery-cream color, with narrow yellow and blue longi ...

'' ( Lacépède, 1801) (white grunt) * '' Haemulon schrankii''

Agassiz Jean Louis Rodolphe Agassiz ( ; ) FRS (For) FRSE (May 28, 1807 – December 14, 1873) was a Swiss-born American biologist and geologist who is recognized as a scholar of Earth's natural history. Spending his early life in Switzerland, he recei ...

, 1831 * '' Haemulon sciurus'' ( G. Shaw, 1803) (bluestriped grunt) * '' Haemulon scudderii'' T. N. Gill, 1862 (grey grunt) * '' Haemulon serrula'' G. Cuvier, 1830 * '' Haemulon sexfasciatum'' T. N. Gill, 1862 (greybar grunt) * '' Haemulon squamipinna'' L. A. Rocha & I. M. L. Rosa, 1999 * '' Haemulon steindachneri'' ( D. S. Jordan & C. H. Gilbert, 1882) (chere-chere grunt) * '' Haemulon striatum'' (Linnaeus, 1758) (striped grunt) * '' Haemulon vittatum'' (Poey, 1860) (boga)

Description

Fish of this genus are oblong in shape and have large mouths.Hong, S. L. (1977)
Review of eastern Pacific ''Haemulon'' with notes on juvenile pigmentation.
''Copeia'' 1977(3) 493–501. They have scales over the rays of their second dorsal and anal fins, and the second anal spine is larger than the third. The inside of the mouth is usually bright red. Juveniles of the genus look similar to each other, but the variation in the appearance of the adults is great.

Diet

Some ''Haemulon'' species eat

plankton Plankton are the diverse collection of organisms that drift in Hydrosphere, water (or atmosphere, air) but are unable to actively propel themselves against ocean current, currents (or wind). The individual organisms constituting plankton are ca ...

in the open water, but most seek small prey on the seabed.Rocha, L. A., et al. (2008)
Historical biogeography and speciation in the reef fish genus ''Haemulon'' (Teleostei: Haemulidae).
''Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution'' 48 918–28. Fish of the grunt family are nocturnal feeders, venturing in

schools A school is the educational institution (and, in the case of in-person learning, the building) designed to provide learning environments for the teaching of students, usually under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of ...

from the cover of the reefs around sunset to find food. The schools disperse as individuals go hunting, and then reform as morning approaches and they prepare to return to the reef.Burke, N. C. (1995)
Nocturnal foraging habitats of French and bluestriped grunts, ''Haemulon flavolineatum'' and ''H. sciurus'', at Tobacco Caye, Belize.
''Environmental Biology of Fishes'' 42 365–74.

Behaviour

''Haemulon'' species are common members of shallow reef fish communities in their range. Their schools can have hundredsPereira, P. H. C., et al. (2011)
Mixed-species schooling behavior and protective mimicry involving coral reef fish from the genus ''Haemulon'' (Haemulidae).
''Neotropical Ichthyology'' 9(4) 741–46. or thousands of fish, including adults and juveniles. Schools can be made up of several different ''Haemulon'' species; for example, '' H. squamipinna'' and '' H. aurolineatum'' may associate with each other. ''Haemulon'' spp. have also been observed in schools with grunts of other genera, such as '' Anisotremus virginicus'', and fish of different families, such as the snapper '' Lutjanus alexandrei'', the

goatfish The goatfishes are ray-finned fish of the family Mullidae, the only family in the suborder Mulloidei of the order Syngnathiformes. The family is also sometimes referred to as the red mullets, which also refers more narrowly to the genus '' Mul ...

'' Pseudupeneus maculatus'', and the

jack Jack may refer to: Places * Jack, Alabama, US, an unincorporated community * Jack, Missouri, US, an unincorporated community * Jack County, Texas, a county in Texas People and fictional characters * Jack (given name), a male given name, incl ...

'' Carangoides bartholomaei''. Other fish tend to join large ''Haemulon'' schools for protection. Sometimes they join a school simply for the protection offered by a large mass of fish, but some species engage in protective

mimicry In evolutionary biology, mimicry is an evolved resemblance between an organism and another object, often an organism of another species. Mimicry may evolve between different species, or between individuals of the same species. In the simples ...

in a school. Unrelated fish that resemble ''Haemulon'' in color, size, and shape join the school to hide from predators, even mimicking the swimming style, movements, and postures of the ''Haemulon''. Fish that do this include the goatfish '' Mulloidichthys martinicus'', the

parrotfish Parrotfish (named for their mouths, which resemble a parrot's beak) are a clade of fish placed in the tribe Scarini of the wrasse family (Labridae). Traditionally treated as their own family (Scaridae), genetic studies have found them to be dee ...

'' Sparisoma axillare'', and the

herring Herring are various species of forage fish, belonging to the Order (biology), order Clupeiformes. Herring often move in large Shoaling and schooling, schools around fishing banks and near the coast, found particularly in shallow, temperate wate ...

'' Harengula clupeola''. ''M. martinicus'', in particular, stays with groups of its own species while sheltering in the reefs, but when it enters the open water column and becomes visible to predators, it tends to join schools of '' Haemulon chrysargyreum'', which it closely resembles. It assumes the posture of the grunts and blends into the group.Krajewski, J. P., et al. (2004)
The association of the goatfish ''Mulloidichthys martinicus'' with the grunt ''Haemulon chrysargyreum'': An example of protective mimicry.
''Biota Neotropica'' 4(2) 1–4. Despite their general preference for close association with other fish, some ''Haemulon'' spp. can be

territorial A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, belonging or connected to a particular country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually a geographic area which has not been granted the powers of self-government, ...

and display aggressive behaviors. Larger individuals are more likely to act aggressively, and this behavior is more common at certain times of the day, such as early morning. Like other members of their family, these fish produce a grunting sound by grinding their

pharyngeal teeth Pharyngeal teeth are teeth in the pharyngeal arch of the throat of cyprinids, suckers, and a number of other fish species otherwise lacking teeth.spawning Spawn is the Egg cell, eggs and Spermatozoa, sperm released or deposited into water by aquatic animals. As a verb, ''to spawn'' refers to the process of freely releasing eggs and sperm into a body of water (fresh or marine); the physical act is ...

behavior of these fish has not been observed.

Systematics

''Haemulon'' is split by some authorities into two genera, these workers suggest that ''Haemulon'' ''

sensu lato ''Sensu'' is a Latin word meaning "in the sense of". It is used in a number of fields including biology, geology, linguistics, semiotics, and law. Commonly it refers to how strictly or loosely an expression is used in describing any particular co ...

'' is polyphyletic because molecular studies showed that ''H. chrysargyreum'' clustered with '' Xenistius californiensis'', rendering ''Haemulon'' as

polyphyletic A polyphyletic group is an assemblage that includes organisms with mixed evolutionary origin but does not include their most recent common ancestor. The term is often applied to groups that share similar features known as Homoplasy, homoplasies ...

if '' Xenistius'' was not included. The genus '' Brachygenys'' Poey, 1868 was revived to include ''Xenistius californiensis'', ''Haemulon chrysargyreum'', '' Xenistius peruanus'' and '' Xenocys jessiae''.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q772044 Haemulinae Ray-finned fish genera Taxa named by Georges Cuvier