Inhabits reefs and rocky bottoms. Feeds at night on mollusks, echinoderms, annelids, and crustaceans (Ref. 3798). Young pick parasites from the bodies of larger fishes (Ref. 5521). Young are popular aquarium fish (Ref. 7251). Marketed fresh (Ref. 3798). Has been reared in captivity (Ref. 35420).

Western Atlantic.

Western Atlantic: Bermuda (introduced) and Florida, USA to Brazil, including the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea (Ref. 9626).

Gulf of Mexico

Dorsal spines (total): 12; Dorsal soft rays (total): 16 - 18; Analspines: 3; Analsoft rays: 9

Maximum size: 380 mm TL

40.6 cm TL (male/unsexed; (Ref. 40637)); max. published weight: 930 g (Ref. 40637)

Body striped yellow and silvery blue; fins yellow, 2 black bars: one from nape through eye to mouth, another from origin of dorsal fin to base of pectoral fin. Only grunt fish in the Caribbean with two vertical black bars and yellow stripes. (Ref. 26938).

Depth: 2 - 20m.
From 2 to 20 meters.

Habitat: reef-associated.

reef-associated; marine; depth range 2 - 20 m (Ref. 9710)

Depth range based on 538 specimens in 1 taxon.
Water temperature and chemistry ranges based on 317 samples.

Environmental ranges
  Depth range (m): 0.5 - 40
  Temperature range (°C): 24.233 - 28.067
  Nitrate (umol/L): 0.115 - 3.505
  Salinity (PPS): 35.610 - 37.169
  Oxygen (ml/l): 4.285 - 4.731
  Phosphate (umol/l): 0.046 - 0.239
  Silicate (umol/l): 0.805 - 5.080

Graphical representation

Depth range (m): 0.5 - 40

Temperature range (°C): 24.233 - 28.067

Nitrate (umol/L): 0.115 - 3.505

Salinity (PPS): 35.610 - 37.169

Oxygen (ml/l): 4.285 - 4.731

Phosphate (umol/l): 0.046 - 0.239

Silicate (umol/l): 0.805 - 5.080
 
Note: this information has not been validated. Check this *note*. Your feedback is most welcome.

Inhabits reefs and rocky bottoms. Feeds at night on mollusks, echinoderms, annelids, and crustaceans (Ref. 3798). Cleaned by Elacatinus figaro observed off the coast of São Paulo, southeastern Brazil (Ref. 40102). Mobile invertebrates feeder (Ref. 57616).

The following is a representative barcode sequence, the centroid of all available sequences for this species.


There are 11 barcode sequences available from BOLD and GenBank.  Below is a sequence of the barcode region Cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 (COI or COX1) from a member of the species.  See the BOLD taxonomy browser for more complete information about this specimen and other sequences.


Download FASTA File

Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLDS) Stats
Public Records: 16
Specimens with Barcodes: 34
Species With Barcodes: 1

Not Evaluated

fisheries: minor commercial; gamefish: yes; aquarium: public aquariums; price category: medium; price reliability: very questionable: based on ex-vessel price for species in this family