The Eastern striped grunter (''Helotes sexlineatus'') is a species of marine

ray-finned fish Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fishes, is a class of bony fish. They comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species. The ray-finned fishes are so called because their fins are webs of skin supported by bony or hor ...

, a grunter from the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Terapontidae Grunters or tigerperches are ray-finned fishes in the Family (biology), family Terapontidae (also spelled Teraponidae, Theraponidae or Therapontidae). This family is part of the Superfamily (taxonomy), superfamily Percoidea of the Order (biology ...

. It is found 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 ...

region where it is found in coastal waters and is an omnivore.

Description

The Eastern striped grunter is a small species of grunter with an oblong body which has slight lateral compression. It has jaws of equal length, a small oblique mouth the end of which extends to a level hallway between the nostril and the front edge of the eye. It has tricuspid teeth with the cusps all being the same size and which are arranged in bands on each jaw with the outermost row of teeth having the largest teeth. The

dorsal fin A dorsal fin is a fin located on the back of most marine and freshwater vertebrates within various taxa of the animal kingdom. Many species of animals possessing dorsal fins are not particularly closely related to each other, though through conv ...

has 11or 12 spinesand 9 to 11 soft rays, the spiny part of the fin is arched with the fifth or sixth spines being longer than the others and the second last spine is shorter than last spine. The

anal fin Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as se ...

has 3 spines and 9 to 11 soft rays.The

lateral line The lateral line, also called the lateral line organ (LLO), is a system of sensory organs found in fish, used to detect movement, vibration, and pressure gradients in the surrounding water. The sensory ability is achieved via modified epithelial ...

contains 76 to 87 pored scales. The upper part of the body is greyish or bluish in colour while the lower part of the body is silvery or whitish. There are 5 to 8 narrow, dark brown or black horizontal stripes along the body. The midlateral stripe reaches the base of the

caudal fin Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as se ...

. The spiny portion of the dorsal fin has a black margin on the membranes between the spines membranes. There is a dark blotch on the body behind the nape and shows variation in the intensity of its pigment. The caudal fin has a dark border and several bands made up of faint spots at its base, but lacks obvious transverse black striping. the maximum

total length Fish measurement is the measuring of individual fish and various parts of their anatomies. These data are used in many areas of ichthyology, including taxonomy and fisheries biology. Overall length * Standard length (SL) is the length of a fish ...

is .

Distribution

The Eastern striped grunter is found from Singapore east to Australia and north to China and

Okinawa is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest city ...

. It has been reported from India but this need to be confirmed.

Habitat and biology

The eastern striped grunter is found at depths of and are found in schools in sheltered seagrass beds, sandy areas and in coastal reefs. It is most numerous in weedy areas close to the mouth of estuaries. The juveniles inhabit seagrass beds, moving into them after ending their larval stage. It is an omnivorous species but the major part of its diet comprises small fishes and invertebrates. The eggs are guarded and fanned by the male.

Taxonomy

The Eastern striped grunter was first formally described as ''Terapon sexlineatus'' in 1825 by the French naturalists

Jean René Constant Quoy Jean René Constant Quoy (10 November 1790 in Maillé, Vendée, Maillé – 4 July 1869 in Rochefort, Charente-Maritime, Rochefort) was a French naval surgeon, zoologist and anatomist. In 1806, he began his medical studies at the school of naval ...

and

Joseph Paul Gaimard Joseph Paul Gaimard (31 January 1793 – 10 December 1858) was a French naval surgeon and naturalist. Biography Gaimard was born at Saint-Zacharie on January 31, 1793. He studied medicine at the naval medical school in Toulon, subsequent ...

with the type locality given as

Shark Bay Shark Bay (Malgana: ''Gathaagudu'', "two waters") is a World Heritage Site in the Gascoyne region of Western Australia. The http://www.environment.gov.au/heritage/places/world/shark-bay area is located approximately north of Perth, on the ...

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

Georges Cuvier Jean Léopold Nicolas Frédéric, Baron Cuvier (; 23 August 1769 – 13 May 1832), known as Georges Cuvier, was a French natural history, naturalist and zoology, zoologist, sometimes referred to as the "founding father of paleontology". Cuvier ...

created the

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

genus ''Helotes'' for this species in 1829 and most authorities retain this species as the only species in this genus.

Fisheries

The Eastern striped grunter is of minor commercial importance to Fisheries, and is often taken as

bycatch Bycatch (or by-catch), in the fishing industry, is a fish or other marine species that is caught unintentionally while fishing for specific species or sizes of wildlife. Bycatch is either the wrong species, the wrong sex, or is undersized or juve ...

. It is caught using handlines ,

seine net Seine fishing (or seine-haul fishing; ) is a method of fishing that employs a surrounding net, called a seine, that hangs vertically in the water with its bottom edge held down by weights and its top edge buoyed by floats. Seine nets can be dep ...

s and other inshore fishing gear. The catch is marketed fresh. It is also targeted by recreation fishermen in

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

References

{{Taxonbar, From=Q14026910 Terapontidae Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN