''Plectorhinchus'' 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 ...

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 ...

, sweetlips belonging to the subfamily Plectorhinchinae which is one of two subfamilies in 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 ...

Haemulidae Haemulidae is a family (biology), family of fishes in the order (biology), order Perciformes known commonly as grunts. It is made up of the two subfamily, subfamilies Haemulinae (grunts) and Plectorhynchinae (sweetlips), which contain about 133 ...

which also includes the grunts. The species in this genus are found in

fresh Fresh may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films and television * ''Fresh'' (1994 film), a crime film * ''Fresh'' (2009 film), a documentary film on sustainable agriculture * ''Fresh'' (2022 film), a thriller film *''Fresh with the Aust ...

brackish Brackish water, sometimes termed brack water, is water occurring in a natural environment that has more salinity than freshwater, but not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing seawater (salt water) and fresh water together, as in estuari ...

, and salt waters.

Description and characteristics

These fish have big, fleshy lips and tend to live on

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 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 ...

in small groups or pairs. They will often associate with other fishes of similar species; several species of sweetlips sometimes swim together. They are usually seen in clusters in nooks and crannies or under overhangs. At nightfall, they venture from their shelters to seek out their bottom-dwelling invertebrate prey, such as bristleworms,

shrimp A shrimp (: shrimp (American English, US) or shrimps (British English, UK)) is a crustacean with an elongated body and a primarily Aquatic locomotion, swimming mode of locomotion – typically Decapods belonging to the Caridea or Dendrobranchi ...

s, and small

crab Crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura (meaning "short tailed" in Greek language, Greek), which typically have a very short projecting tail-like abdomen#Arthropoda, abdomen, usually hidden entirely under the Thorax (arthropo ...

s. Sweetlips colouring and patterning changes throughout their lives. For example, ''Plectorhinchus polytaenia'' develops more stripes with age. Juvenile sweetlips generally look quite different from the adults, and often live solitary lives on shallower reef sections. Juveniles may be banded or spotted and are usually a completely different colour from the adults of their species. Small juveniles have an undulating swimming pattern, possibly mimicking poisonous

flatworm Platyhelminthes (from the Greek language, Greek πλατύ, ''platy'', meaning "flat" and ἕλμινς (root: ἑλμινθ-), ''helminth-'', meaning "worm") is a Phylum (biology), phylum of relatively simple bilaterian, Segmentation (biology), ...

s as a means of predator avoidance.

Species

These are the currently recognized species in this genus: * '' Plectorhinchus albovittatus'' ( Rüppell, 1838) (Two-striped sweetlips) * '' Plectorhinchus caeruleonothus'' J. W. Johnson & Worthington Wilmer, 2015 (Blue bastard)
* '' Plectorhinchus ceylonensis'' (

J. L. B. Smith James Leonard Brierley Smith (26 September 1897 – 8 January 1968) was a South African ichthyology, ichthyologist, organic chemist, and university professor. He was the first to identify a taxidermied fish as a coelacanth, at the time thought t ...

, 1956) (Sri Lanka sweetlips) * '' Plectorhinchus chaetodonoides'' Lacépède, 1801 (Harlequin sweetlips) * '' Plectorhinchus chrysotaenia'' ( Bleeker, 1855) (Yellow-striped sweetlips) * '' Plectorhinchus chubbi'' ( Regan, 1919) (Dusky rubberlip) * '' Plectorhinchus cinctus'' (

Temminck Coenraad Jacob Temminck (; 31 March 1778 – 30 January 1858) was a Dutch patrician, zoologist and museum director. Biography Coenraad Jacob Temminck was born on 31 March 1778 in Amsterdam in the Dutch Republic. From his father, Jacob ...

& Schlegel, 1843) (Crescent sweetlips) * '' Plectorhinchus diagrammus'' (

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 Events January–March * January 1 – Swedish biologist Carl Linnaeus (Carl von Linné) publishes in Stockholm the first volume (''Animalia'') of the 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae'', the starting point of modern zoologic ...

) (Striped sweetlips) * '' Plectorhinchus faetela'' ( Forsskål, 1775) * '' Plectorhinchus flavomaculatus'' ( G. Cuvier, 1830) (Lemonfish) * '' Plectorhinchus gaterinus'' ( Forsskål, 1775) (Blackspotted rubberlip) * '' Plectorhinchus gibbosus'' ( Lacépède, 1802) (Harry hotlips) * '' Plectorhinchus griseus'' ( G. Cuvier, 1830) * '' Plectorhinchus lessonii'' ( G. Cuvier, 1830) (Lesson's thicklip) * '' Plectorhinchus lineata'' (

) (Yellowbanded sweetlips) * '' Plectorhinchus macrolepis'' ( Boulenger, 1899) (Biglip grunt) * '' Plectorhinchus macrospilus'' Satapoomin & J. E. Randall, 2000 (Largespot sweetlips) * '' Plectorhinchus makranensis'' Damadi, Moghaddam, Ghassemzadeh, Ghanbarifardi (Oman sweetlips) * '' Plectorhinchus mediterraneus'' ( Guichenot, 1850) (Rubberlip grunt) * '' Plectorhinchus multivittatus'' ( W. J. Macleay, 1878) (Many-lined sweetlips) * '' Plectorhinchus obscurus'' ( Günther, 1872) (Giant sweetlips) * '' Plectorhinchus paulayi''

Steindachner Franz Steindachner (11 November 1834 in Vienna – 10 December 1919 in Vienna) was an Austrian zoologist, ichthyologist, and herpetologist. He published over 200 papers on fishes and over 50 papers on reptiles and amphibians. Steindachner descri ...

, 1895 (Zebra sweetlips) * '' Plectorhinchus pictus'' ( Tortonese, 1936) (Trout sweetlips) * '' Plectorhinchus pica'' ( G. Cuvier, 1828) (Painted sweetlips) * '' Plectorhinchus plagiodesmus'' Fowler, 1935 (Barred rubberlip) * '' Plectorhinchus playfairi'' ( Pellegrin, 1914) (Whitebarred rubberlip) * '' Plectorhinchus polytaenia'' ( Bleeker, 1853) (Ribboned sweetlips) * '' Plectorhinchus schotaf'' ( Forsskål, 1775) (Minstrel sweetlips) * '' Plectorhinchus sordidus'' ( Klunzinger, 1870) (Sordid rubberlip) * '' Plectorhinchus umbrinus'' ( Klunzinger, 1870) * '' Plectorhinchus unicolor'' ( W. J. Macleay, 1883) (Sombre sweetlips) * '' Plectorhinchus vittatus'' (

) (Indian Ocean oriental sweetlips) Image:Harlequin Sweetlips (Plectorhinchus chaetodonoides) (8499712403).jpg, '' Plectorhinchus chaetodonoides'' Image:KoshoDI.jpg, ''Plectorhinchus cinctus'' Image:Plectorhinchus flavomaculatus at Red Sea Aquarium by Hatem Moushir 1.JPG, ''Plectorhinchus flavomaculatus'' Image:Plectorhinchus gaterinus by Line1.jpg, ''Plectorhinchus gaterinus'' Image:Plectorhinchus gibbosus Landaagiraavaru.JPG, ''Plectorhinchus gibbosus'' Image:Plectorhinchus lineatus.jpg, '' Plectorhinchus lineata'' Image:Plectorhinchus obscurus Landaagiraavaru.JPG, ''Plectorhinchus obscurus'' Image:Plectorhinchus picus.jpg, '' Plectorhinchus picus'' Image:Plectorhinchus polytaenia.jpg, '' Plectorhinchus polytaenia'' Image:Oriental Sweetlips.jpg, '' Plectorhinchus vittatus'' Image:Baby Harlequin Sweetlips.jpg, Juveniles

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q135508 Extant Miocene first appearances Taxa named by Bernard Germain de Lacépède Marine fish genera