''Lethrinus nebulosus'' is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...

of emperor fish. Common names include spangled emperor, green snapper, morwong, north-west snapper, sand bream, sand snapper, sixteen-pounder, Sharie, Sheri and yellow sweetlip.

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. It also lives in Australian coastal waters, and has been recorded in the Red Sea

The Red Sea ( ar, البحر الأحمر - بحر القلزم, translit=Modern: al-Baḥr al-ʾAḥmar, Medieval: Baḥr al-Qulzum; or ; Coptic: ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϩⲁϩ ''Phiom Enhah'' or ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϣⲁⲣⲓ ''Phiom ǹšari''; ...
, Persian Gulf

The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a mediterranean sea in Western Asia. The bo ...
Lethrinus nebulosus, Spangled emperor : fisheries, aquaculture, gamefish
/ref> and New Caledonia,Laboute, P. & Grandperrin, R. (2000). Poissons de Nouvelle-Calédonie. Nouméa, New Caledonia: Éditions Catherine Ledru. 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 the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is es ...
s, echinoderm

An echinoderm () is any member of the phylum Echinodermata (). The adults are recognisable by their (usually five-point) radial symmetry, and include starfish, brittle stars, sea urchins, sand dollars, and sea cucumbers, as well as the s ...
s, and crustacean

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 gro ...
s. It also eats polychaete

Polychaeta () is a paraphyletic class of generally marine annelid worms, commonly called bristle worms or polychaetes (). Each body segment has a pair of fleshy protrusions called parapodia that bear many bristles, called chaetae, which are ...
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
People
* Jim Host (born 1937), American businessman
* Michel Host ...
of many species of parasite

Parasitism is a Symbiosis, close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or inside another organism, the Host (biology), host, causing it some harm, and is Adaptation, adapted structurally to this way of lif ...
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 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 have both male and female reprod ...
ns parasitic on the gill

A gill () is a respiratory organ that many 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 respiration on land provided they ar ...
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 (2019). Polyopisthocotylea. Accessed at: http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=119220 on 2019-02-08Yamaguti, S. (1963). Systema Helminthum Volum ...
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.
harbour a species of the capsalid monogenea

Monogeneans 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 have both male and female reprod ...
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. Some species are planktonic (inhabiting sea waters), some are benthic (living on the ocean floor), a number of species have p ...
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, 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 on or inside another organism, the Host (biology), host, causing it some harm, and is Adaptation, adapted structurally to this way of lif ...
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.

Synonyms

*''Lethrinus alboguttatus'' Valenciennes, 1830
*''Lethrinus anatarius'' Richardson, 1845
*''Lethrinus aurolineatus'' MacLeay, 1882
*''Lethrinus carinatus'' Weber, 1913
*''Lethrinus centurio'' Valenciennes, 1830
*''Lethrinus choerorynchus'' Bloch & Schneider, 1801)
*''Lethrinus cyanoxanthus'' Richardson, 1843
*''Lethrinus devisianus'' Whitley, 1929
*''Lethrinus erythrurus'' Valenciennes, 1830
*''Lethrinus esculentus'' Valenciennes, 1830
*''Lethrinus fasciatus'' Valenciennes, 1830
*''Lethrinus fraenatus'' Valenciennes, 1830
*''Lethrinus frenatus'' Valenciennes, 1830
*''Lethrinus gothofredi'' Valenciennes, 1830
*''Lethrinus guentheri'' Bleeker, 1873
*''Lethrinus karwa'' Valenciennes, 1830
*''Lethrinus korely'' Valenciennes, 1830
*''Lethrinus maculatus'' Valenciennes, 1830
*''Lethrinus perselectus'' Whitley, 1933
*''Lethrinus scoparius'' Gilchrist & Thompson, 1908
*''Sciaena nebulosa'' Forsskål, 1775
*''Sparus choerorynchus'' Bloch & Schneider, 1801

References

External links

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{{Taxonbar, from=Q1047635

Lethrinidae
Fish described in 1775
Taxa named by Peter Forsskål}