''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 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 species is found the

Indo-West 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 s ...

region.

Taxonomy

''Lethrinus nebulosus'' was first formally described as ''Sciaena nebulosa'' by the Swedish-speaking Finnish

explorer Exploration is the process of exploring, an activity which has some Expectation (epistemic), expectation of Discovery (observation), discovery. Organised exploration is largely a human activity, but exploratory activity is common to most organis ...

, orientalist,

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 ...

Peter Forsskål Peter Forsskål, sometimes spelled Pehr Forsskål, Peter Forskaol, Petrus Forskål or Pehr Forsskåhl (11 January 1732 – 11 July 1763) was a Sweden, Swedish exploration, explorer, oriental studies, orientalist, natural history, naturalist, and ...

and published in 1775 in ''Descriptiones animalium'' edited by

Carsten Niebuhr Carsten Niebuhr, or Karsten Niebuhr (17 March 1733 Cuxhaven, Lüdingworth – 26 April 1815 Meldorf, Dithmarschen), was a German mathematician, Cartography, cartographer, and Geographical exploration, explorer in the service of Denmark-Norway. He ...

with no Type locality being given but it is assumed to be the

Red Sea The Red Sea is a sea inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. Its connection to the ocean is in the south, through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden. To its north lie the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and th ...

. In 2022 the population of this species found off the coast of Southern Africa south of northern

KwaZulu-Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN) is a Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the government merged the Zulu people, Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu language, Zulu) and ...

was recognised as a valid separate species from ''L. nebulosus'', ''

Lethrinus scoparius ''Lethrinus scoparius'' is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Lethrinidae, the emperors and emperor breams. This species is found in the southwestern Indian Ocean. ''L. scoparius'' was previously considered to be a junior ...

''. 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 nebulosus'' 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 ...

''nebulosus'' which means "cloudy", Forsskål described it as having “longitudinal clouds of blue and yellow-brown” which is thought to be an allusion to the irregular dark bars that sometimes appear on its flanks.

Description

This species commonly grows to approximately 70 cm in length, however the largest individuals have been found to be 87 cm.^{larification needed/sup> It is yellow to yellowish-brown or bronze in colour, the belly being lighter. It has scattered blue markings over the body. The cheeks have no scales and may have a vertical blue markings. It has whitish or yellowish fins with a yellowish-edged dorsal fin.

Distribution

This fish occurs in the waters of East Africa to the southern parts of Japan

Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
. It also lives in Australian coastal waters, and has been recorded in the Red Sea

The Red Sea is a sea inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. Its connection to the ocean is in the south, through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden. To its north lie the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and th ...
, Persian Gulf

The Persian Gulf, sometimes called the Arabian Gulf, is a Mediterranean seas, mediterranean sea in West Asia. The body of water is an extension of the Arabian Sea and the larger Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.Un ...
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 ...
, where it is one of the major commercial fish.

Habitat

''Lethrinus nebulosus'' inhabits both marine and brackish waters at depths of between 10 and 75 metres. It is a non-migratory species, and is found on coral and rocky reefs, seagrass beds, mangrove swamps, as well as over sandy substrates. Juveniles may be found in large schools.

Diet

This species feeds mainly on mollusk

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

An echinoderm () is any animal of the phylum Echinodermata (), which includes starfish, brittle stars, sea urchins, sand dollars and sea cucumbers, as well as the sessile sea lilies or "stone lilies". While bilaterally symmetrical as ...
s, and 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. It also eats polychaete

Polychaeta () is a paraphyletic class of generally marine Annelid, annelid worms, common name, commonly called bristle worms or polychaetes (). Each body segment has a pair of fleshy protrusions called parapodia that bear many bristles, called c ...
s and other fish, but less commonly.

As food

''Lethrinus nebulosus'' is sought after by recreational fishers and is considered to be delicious.

Parasites

As with most fish, ''Lethrinus nebulosus'' is the host

A host is a person responsible for guests at an event or for providing hospitality during it.

Host may also refer to:

Places
* Host, Pennsylvania, a village in Berks County
* Host Island, in the Wilhelm Archipelago, Antarctica
People
* ...
of many species of parasite

Parasitism is a Symbiosis, close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives (at least some of the time) on or inside another organism, the Host (biology), host, causing it some harm, and is Adaptation, adapted str ...
s.Justine, J.-L., Beveridge, I., Boxshall, G. A., Bray, R. A., Moravec, F. & Whittington, I. D. 2010: An annotated list of fish parasites (Copepoda, Monogenea, Digenea, Cestoda and Nematoda) collected from Emperors and Emperor Bream (Lethrinidae) in New Caledonia further highlights parasite biodiversity estimates on coral reef fish. Zootaxa, 2691, 1-40
Open-Access PDF
/ref>
Monogenea

Monogeneans, members of the class Monogenea, are a group of ectoparasitic flatworms commonly found on the skin, gills, or fins of fish. They have a direct lifecycle and do not require an intermediate host. Adults are hermaphrodites, meaning they ...
ns parasitic on the gill

A gill () is a respiration organ, respiratory organ that many aquatic ecosystem, aquatic organisms use to extract dissolved oxygen from water and to excrete carbon dioxide. The gills of some species, such as hermit crabs, have adapted to allow r ...
s include the diplectanids ''Calydiscoides difficilis'', ''Calydiscoides duplicostatus'' and ''Calydiscoides terpsichore'',Rascalou, G. & Justine, J.-L. 2007: Three species of ''Calydiscoides'' (Monogenea: Diplectanidae) from five ''Lethrinus'' spp. (Lethrinidae: Perciformes) off New Caledonia, with a description of ''Calydiscoides terpsichore'' sp. n. Folia Parasitologica, 54, 191-202. an ancyrocephalid, and an unidentified polyopisthocotylea

Polyopisthocotylea is a subclass of parasitic flatworms in the class Monogenea.WoRMS (2023). Polyopisthocotylea. Accessed at: http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=119220 on 2023-12-21Yamaguti, S. (1963). Systema Helminthum Volu ...
n.
The 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.monogenea

Monogeneans, members of the class Monogenea, are a group of ectoparasitic flatworms commonly found on the skin, gills, or fins of fish. They have a direct lifecycle and do not require an intermediate host. Adults are hermaphrodites, meaning they ...
n ''Encotyllabe'' which is specialised to this special habitat.
Copepod

Copepods (; meaning 'oar-feet') are a group of small crustaceans found in nearly every freshwater and saltwater habitat (ecology), habitat. Some species are planktonic (living in the water column), some are benthos, benthic (living on the sedimen ...
s parasitic on the gills include three species of the hatschekiid ''Hatschekia'' including ''Hatschekia gracilis''.
The digestive tract harbours the opecoelid ''Macvicaria macassarensis'' and the zoogonid ''Diphterostomum tropicum''.
In 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 ...
, where its parasites were studied, ''Lethrinus nebulosus'' has a total of eleven species of parasite

Parasitism is a Symbiosis, close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives (at least some of the time) on or inside another organism, the Host (biology), host, causing it some harm, and is Adaptation, adapted str ...
s.

Distribution and population

Spangled Emperor are a very commonly found fish in many locations. They can be found around East Africa, Japan, Australia, the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea. They usually inhabit waters 20-300 meters deep, but can be found shallower, more commonly near structure.

Being a good eating fish, over exploitation of this species has significantly decreased the population especially in the Persian Gulf, where the development of Emirati fishing vessels has considerably decreased the amount of 'Sheri' or 'Sherry' caught. However, it is still being caught at near sustainable numbers, and its offshore populations remain of lower concern. Around 3000 tons of ''Lethrinus nebulosus'' is caught every year around the Persian Gulf.

References

External links

*
*

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1047635

nebulosus
Fish described in 1775
Taxa named by Peter Forsskål}