The Drysdale grunter (''Syncomistes rastellus'') is a species of
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 ...
in the family
Terapontidae
Grunters or tigerperches are ray-finned fishes in the family Terapontidae (also spelled Teraponidae, Theraponidae or Therapontidae). This family is part of the superfamily Percoidea of the order Perciformes.
Characteristics
The Terapontidae ...
. It is
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...
to
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
, where it occurs in the
Gibb and
Drysdale Rivers, coastal rivers in northern
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 ...
.
It is a herbivorous species which grazes on filamentous algae and prefers the main river channels rather than the tributaries, it also prefers flowing water of varying turbidity and substrate.
References
Syncomistes
Endemic fauna of Australia
Freshwater fish of Western Australia
Fish described in 1978
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot
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