''Lethrinus laticaudis'', the grass emperor, blue-lined emperor, blue-spotted emperor, brown kelp-fish, brown morwong, brown sweetlip, coral bream, grass sweetlip, grey sweetlip, piggy, red throat, red-finned emperor, snapper bream, squire, sweet-lips or tricky snapper, 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 ...

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 ...

Lethrinidae Lethrinidae are a family of ray-finned fishes belonging to the order Spariformes commonly known as emperors, emperor breams, and pigface breams. These fish are found in tropical waters of the Pacific and Indian Oceans, and ''Lethrinus atlanticus ...

, the emperors and emperor breams. This fish is found in the eastern Indian and western Pacific Oceans.

Taxonomy

''Lethrinus laticaudis'' was first formally described in 1877 by the Australian naturalists

Haynes Gibbes Alleyne Haynes Gibbes Alleyne (born Saint James, Barbados 14 October 1813, died Sydney, 9 September 1882) was a physician and zoologist who practised in Australia and who is well known for his studies on the fishes of Australia. Alleyne was born on 14 O ...

and

William John Macleay Sir William John Macleay (13 June 1820 – 7 December 1891) was a Scottish-Australian politician, naturalist, zoologist, and herpetologist. Early life Macleay was born at Wick, Caithness, Scotland, second son of Kenneth Macleay of Keiss and h ...

with its type locality given as the Percy Islands off

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 ...

. The correct name for this species has caused some amount of confusion in recent literature, it has sometimes been called ''Lethrinus fraenatus'', which is a

junior synonym In taxonomy, the scientific classification of living organisms, a synonym is an alternative scientific name for the accepted scientific name of a taxon. The botanical and zoological codes of nomenclature treat the concept of synonymy differently. ...

of ''

Lethrinus nebulosus ''Lethrinus nebulosus'', the spangled emperor, green snapper, morwong, north-west snapper, sand bream, sand snapper, sixteen-pounder, sharie, sheri and yellow sweetlip, is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Lethrinidae, t ...

'', and at other times the name ''Lethrinus fletus'' , a junior synonym of this species, has been applied. Some authors place the

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 ...

Lethrinus ''Lethrinus'' is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Lethrinidae, the emperors and emperor breams. These fishes are mostly found in the Indian and western Pacific Oceans, with a single species in the eastern Atlantic Ocean ...

'' in the monotypic

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end botanical subfamily names with "-oideae", and zo ...

Lethrininae, with all the other genera of Lethrinidae placed in the Monotaxinae, however, the 5th edition of ''

Fishes of the World ''Fishes of the World'' is a standard reference for the systematics of fishes. It was first written in 1976 by the American ichthyologist Joseph S. Nelson (1937–2011). Now in its fifth edition (2016), the work is a comprehensive overview of t ...

'' does not recognise the subfamilies traditionally accepted within the family Lethrinidae as valid. The family Lethrinidae is classified by the 5th edition of ''Fishes of the World'' as belonging to the

order Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood ...

Spariformes Spariformes is an order of ray-finned fishes consisting of six families within the series Percomorpha. Taxonomy Spariformes was first used as a taxonomic term in 1860 by the Dutch physician, herpetologist and ichthyologist Pieter Bleeker. Trad ...

Etymology

''Lethrinus laticaudis'' has the

specific name Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...

''laticaudis'' which is a compound of ''latus'', meaning "broad", and ''cauda'', which means "tail". Alleyne and Macleay described its tail as “emarginated, wide-spread”.

Description

''Lethrinus laticaudus'' has 10 spines and 9 soft rays supporting its

dorsal fin A dorsal fin is a fin on the back of most marine and freshwater vertebrates. Dorsal fins have evolved independently several times through convergent evolution adapting to marine environments, so the fins are not all homologous. They are found ...

while the

anal fin Fins are moving appendages protruding from the body of fish that interact with water to generate thrust and help the fish swim. Apart from the tail or caudal fin, fish fins have no direct connection with the back bone and are supported o ...

has 3 spines and 8 soft rays. There are no scales on the cheeks but the

axilla The axilla (: axillae or axillas; also known as the armpit, underarm or oxter) is the area on the human body directly under the shoulder joint. It includes the axillary space, an anatomical space within the shoulder girdle between the arm a ...

of the

pectoral fin Fins are moving appendages protruding from the body of fish that interact with water to generate thrust and help the fish aquatic locomotion, swim. Apart from the tail or caudal fin, fish fins have no direct connection with the vertebral column ...

is densely scaled. The dorsal profile of the head is steep and slightly concave. There are blue lines radiating out from the eyes and blue lines across the cheeks. This fish can change their colour and patterning from plain tan, brown or yellow to a brown mottled pattern to camouflage itself. The paired fins are yellow and the dorsal and anal fins are mottled. This species has a maximum published

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 , although is more typical.

Distribution and habitat

''Lethrinus laticaudis'' is found in the eastern Indian Ocean and the western Pacific Ocean. It ranges from southern Indonesia and northern Australia east to the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and

New Caledonia New Caledonia ( ; ) is a group of islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean, southwest of Vanuatu and east of Australia. Located from Metropolitan France, it forms a Overseas France#Sui generis collectivity, ''sui generis'' collectivity of t ...

. These fishes live at depths between adult fishes live in coral reefs while the juveniles prefer

seagrass 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 and ...

beds and

mangrove A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows mainly in coastal saline water, saline or brackish water. Mangroves grow in an equatorial climate, typically along coastlines and tidal rivers. They have particular adaptations to take in extra oxygen a ...

Biology

''Lethrinus laticaudis'' feeds mainly on

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

s and fishes. The females are smaller and more numerous than the males, this species is a

protogynous hermaphrodite Sequential hermaphroditism (called dichogamy in botany) is one of the two types of hermaphroditism, the other type being simultaneous hermaphroditism. It occurs when the organism's sex changes at some point in its life. A sequential hermaphrodite ...

. Grass emperors

spawn Spawn or spawning may refer to: * Spawning, the eggs and sperm of aquatic animals Arts, entertainment and media * Spawn (character), a fictional character in the comic series of the same name and in the associated franchise ** ''Spawn: Armageddon' ...

in batches with each spawning event seeing between 50,000 and 150,000 eggs released by a female. Off

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 ...

spawning commences in December, peaks in January and finishes in March.

Fisheries

''Lethrinus laticaudus'' is a valued foodfish which is mostly sold as fresh fish. It is mainly caught using handlines It is a popolular and frequently caught fish for recreational fishers, especially in Western Australia.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q31330 laticaudis Fish described in 1877 Taxa named by William John Macleay Taxa named by Haynes Gibbes Alleyne