''Leiopotherapon unicolor'', the spangled grunter or spangled perch is a species of

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 h ...

, a grunter from the

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

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 i ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found 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 found else ...

to Australia.

Description

''Leiopotherapon unicolor'' has a slender, oval shaped body which is somewhat compressed, although the juveniles are more rotund. The dorsal profile is mainly convex, the ventral profile is evenly convex and it has a long snout. The mouth is oblique, the maxillary extending past the level of the front of the eye and is equipped with strong conical teeth with those in the outer row enlarged and the inner band being villiform and there are no teeth on the roof of the mouth. They have 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 c ...

with a spiny part to the front which is rounded and contains 11-13 spines with the third or fourth spines being the longerst. The rear part of the dorsal fin has 9-12 soft rays the longest being longer than the longest dorsal fin spines. The anal fin has 3 short spines and 7-10 soft rays and has a softly, rounded shape. 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 ...

is slightly emarginate. It is an attractive species which is silvery grey to silvery blue in colour on the body marked with many reddish-brown spots, apart from the abdomen. The juveniles have an obvious dark bar on lower lobe of the caudal fin. The maximum recorded standard length is .

Distribution

''Leiopotherapon unicolor'' has the widest distribution of any freshwater grunter in Australia and is found over most of the northern two thirds of the continent as far south as

Newcastle, New South Wales Newcastle ( ; Awabakal: ) is a metropolitan area and the second most populated city in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It includes the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie local government areas, and is the hub of the Greater Newcastle area ...

Habitat and biology

''Leiopotherapon unicolor'' occurs in a wide range of water conditions, it can be found in running to still waters with turbidity ranging from clear to almost opaque as well as being able to tolerate a wide range of salinities and showing the ability to live in a wide range of temperatures. Among the waterbodies it can be found include intermittent waters, and these waters are where it is most numerous. It also inhabits lakes, dams, rivers, billabongs, bore drains, wells and waterholes. In the interior of Australia this species may be found in any temporary waterbody, even wheel ruts flooded after rains. This species is purported to appear in odd places following so called "rain of fish", as they are often observed scattered on the ground in the aftermath of heavy downpours. However, the fish have been transported to these places by flooding. This hardy species can survive dry periods by aestivation in the least amount of moisture in the bottom of a temporary waterbody. It is an

omnivorous An omnivore () is an animal that has the ability to eat and survive on both plant and animal matter. Obtaining energy and nutrients from plant and animal matter, omnivores digest carbohydrates, protein, fat, and fiber, and metabolize the nut ...

species which has a diet of consisting largely of aquatic and terrestrial insects,

crustacean 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 can ...

s and some

molluscs Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is estim ...

, however it will also prey on small fish and consume a small amount of algae and aquatic weeds.

Spawning Spawn is the eggs and sperm released or deposited into water by aquatic animals. As a verb, ''to spawn'' refers to the process of releasing the eggs and sperm, and the act of both sexes is called spawning. Most aquatic animals, except for aquat ...

takes place from November when water temperatures reach and happens during the night. Before spawning the fish move upstream in rivers or towards the shallows in lakes and ponds so that they can spawn on soft beds. Once laid the eggs take two days to hatch and the larvae take around 24 days to change to juveniles. The males guard and fan the eggs. The females attain sexual maturity at a standard length of and a female may produce 24,000 eggs and one at can produce 113,200.

Species description

''Leiopotherapon unicolor'' was first formally described as ''Therapon unicolor'' in 1859 by the

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-born

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

ichthyologist and

herpetologist Herpetology (from Greek ἑρπετόν ''herpetón'', meaning "reptile" or "creeping animal") is the branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians (including frogs, toads, salamanders, newts, and caecilians ( gymnophiona)) and rep ...

Albert Günther Albert Karl Ludwig Gotthilf Günther FRS, also Albert Charles Lewis Gotthilf Günther (3 October 1830 – 1 February 1914), was a German-born British zoologist, ichthyologist, and herpetologist. Günther is ranked the second-most productive re ...

(1830-1914) with the type locality given as Mosquito Creek and

Gwydir River Gwydir River (locally wɑe̯də, a major inland perennial river of the Barwon catchment within the Murray–Darling basin, is located in the Northern Tablelands, North West Slopes, and Orana districts of New South Wales, Australia. Th ...

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=Q1894308 Leiopotherapon Fish of Australia Endemic fauna of Australia Fish described in 1859 Taxa named by Albert Günther