Plectorhinchus

Plectorhinchus is a genus of marine ray-finned fish, sweetlips belonging to the subfamily Plectorhinchinae which is one of two subfamilies in the family Haemulidae which also includes the grunts. The species in this genus are found in fresh, brackish, and salt waters.

Plectorhinchus
Temporal range: Miocene to Present[1]
Plectorhinchus chaetodonoides
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Perciformes
Family: Haemulidae
Subfamily: Plectorhinchinae
Genus: Plectorhinchus
Lacépède, 1801[2]
Type species
Plectorhinchus chaetodonoides
Lacépède, 1801[3]
Synonyms[3]
  • Euelatichthys Fowler, 1904
  • Gaterin Forsskål, 1775
  • Leitectus Smith, 1952
  • Pluchus Smith, 1949
  • Pseudohelotes Guimarães, 1882
  • Pseudopristipoma Sauvage, 1880
  • Spilotichthys Fowler, 1904

Description and characteristics

These fish have big, fleshy lips and tend to live on coral reefs in the Indo-Pacific 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, shrimps, and small crabs.

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 flatworms as a means of predator avoidance.[4][5]

Juvenile Plectorhinchus lessonii off Taiwan

Species

These are the currently recognized species in this genus:

References
  1. Sepkoski, J. (2002). "A compendium of fossil marine animal genera". Bulletins of American Paleontology. 364: 560.
  2. Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2021). Species of Plectorhinchus in FishBase. February 2021 version.
  3. Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Genera in the family Haemulidae". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 19 April 2021.
  4. Debelius, H. Asia Pacific Reef Guide. 2001. ISBN 3-925919-56-2
  5. Debelius, H. Indian Ocean Reef Guide. 2001. ISBN 978-3-931702-67-0
  6. Johnson, J.W.; Worthington Wilmer, J. (2015). "Plectorhinchus caeruleonothus, a new species of sweetlips (Perciformes: Haemulidae) from northern Australia and the resurrection of P. unicolor (Macleay, 1883), species previously confused with P. schotaf (Forsskål, 1775)". Zootaxa. 3985 (4): 491–522. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3985.4.2. PMID 26250161.
  7. Damadi E, Moghaddam FY, Ghassemzadeh F, Ghanbarifardi M (2020) Plectorhinchus makranensis (Teleostei, Haemulidae), a new species of sweetlips from the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. ZooKeys 980: 141-154. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.980.50934
  8. "Oman Sweetlips (Plectorhinchus makranensis)". iNaturalist Canada. Retrieved 2023-05-13.
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