''Haemulon scudderii'', the grey grunt, golden-eye grunt, or mojarra grunt, is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

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

grunt Grunt, grunts or grunting may refer to: Sound and music * Grunting (tennis), in tennis refers to the loud noise, sometimes described as "shrieking" or "screaming", made by some players during their strokes * Death grunt, the death metal singin ...

belonging to 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 ...

Haemulidae Haemulidae is a family of fishes in the order Perciformes known commonly as grunts. It is made up of the two subfamilies Haemulinae (grunters) and Plectorhynchinae (sweetlips), which in turn contain about 133 species in 19 genera. These fish ar ...

. It is found in the eastern Pacific Ocean.

Description

''H. scudderii'' has an oblong, compressed body with an oblique mouth, which has a projecting lower jaw, the lips are not fleshy and open below the centre of the eye. It has a continuous

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 ...

, which has a small to medium-sized notch in its middle. The dorsal fin contains 11-12 spines and 14*17 soft rays while 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 7-8 soft rays. The overall colour is silvery-grey, with each of the scales having a black spot on it, with notably golden eyes. The inside of the mouth is normally orange in colour. The median fins are black while the pectoral and

pelvic fin Pelvic fins or ventral fins are paired fins located on the ventral surface of fish. The paired pelvic fins are homologous to the hindlimbs of tetrapods. Structure and function Structure In actinopterygians, the pelvic fin consists of two en ...

s are a slightly lighter dusky colour. The juveniles have a dark midlateral stripe that joins a black spot at the base of the caudal fin and a second stripe from the upper part of eye to upper surface of the caudal peduncle. This species attains a 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 ...

of , although a length of is more typical.

Distribution

''H. scudderii'' is endemic to the eastern Pacific Ocean. It is distributed from southern

Baja California Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Mex ...

and the central

Gulf of California The Gulf of California ( es, Golfo de California), also known as the Sea of Cortés (''Mar de Cortés'') or Sea of Cortez, or less commonly as the Vermilion Sea (''Mar Bermejo''), is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean that separates the Baja Ca ...

south along the coasts of Central America and South America as far south as Ecuador, its range includes the Galapagos Islands.

Habitat and biology

''H. scudderii'' is found at depths between , where it forms shoals around rock reefs in inshore waters wit some tidal movement. This species is a nocturnal carnivore, preying on benthic invertebrates such as

crustaceans Crustaceans (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapods, seed shrimp, branchiopods, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopods, barnacles, copepods, amphipods and mantis shrimp. The crustacean group ...

echinoderms An echinoderm () is any member of the phylum Echinodermata (). The adults are recognisable by their (usually five-point) radial symmetry, and include starfish, brittle stars, sea urchins, sand dollars, and sea cucumbers, as well as the sea li ...

, and molluscs, as well as small fish. It is a poorly studied species and little is known about its biology, although it is oviparous and Spawn (biology), spawning is carried out in distinct pairs.

Systematics

''H. scudderii'' was first formally described in 1862 by American zoologist Theodore Gill (1837-1914), with the type locality given as Cabo San Lucas in Baja California. The Specific name (zoology), specific name honours American entomologist and paleontologist Samuel Hubbard Scudder (1837-1911), who at the time Gill wrote his description was studying the genus ''Haemulon'' with Louis Agassiz.

References

External links

*http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=275734 *http://www.fishbase.org/summary/13717 {{Taxonbar, from=Q2699497 Haemulon, scudderii Fish described in 1862