The sea trumpeter (''Pelsartia humeralis'') 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 h ...

, a

grunter 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 ...

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 the southeastern Indian Ocean off the southwestern coats of Australia.

Description

The sea trumpeter has a moderately deep, long body which is compressed. It has a relatively small, oblique mouth with the upper jaw just reaching, or falling short of, the front of the eye. It has very small, conical teeth arranged in a single band on each jaw, with the outer teeth larger than the inner 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 c ...

contains 12-13 spines 11 soft rays with a notch two thirds of the way along it and the soft rayed part is rounded. The anal fin is similar in size and shape to the soft part of the dorsal fin and contains 3 spines and 10 soft rays. 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 notched. There are 80-90 scales in the lateral line. The colour pattern is light greyish to brown dorsally, silvery to white ventrally with 4–5 broad dark vertical bands on the flanks which are more obvious immediately above the centre of the flanks. There are dark stripes on the head which run through and below the eyes. There are small darks spots on the soft part of the dorsal fin, the anal fin and the caudal fin. The juveniles also have 3 horizontal lines of dark spots on their back. They can attain 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 .

Distribution

The sea trumpeter is endemic to the coastal waters of south western Australia from

Kangaroo Island Kangaroo Island, also known as Karta Pintingga (literally 'Island of the Dead' in the language of the Kaurna people), is Australia's third-largest island, after Tasmania and Melville Island. It lies in the state of South Australia, southwest ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

to the

Houtman Abrolhos The Houtman Abrolhos (often called the Abrolhos Islands) is a chain of 122 islands and associated coral reefs, in the Indian Ocean off the west coast of Australia, about west of Geraldton, Western Australia. It is the southernmost true coral ...

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 ...

, although it is uncommon in South Australia.

Habitat and biology

The sea trumpeter is commonly found in seagrass beds in shallow water. The juveniles frequently hide amongst seaweed, seagrass or floating mats of macrophytes. This 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. The male guards and fans the eggs. When caught the sea trumpeter emits a grunting noise.

Species description

The sea trumpeter was first formally described in 1899 as ''Therapon humeralis'' by James Douglas Ogilby with the type locality given as

Pelsaert Island Pelsaert Island is one of the islands of the Pelsaert Group, which is the southernmost of the three groups of islands that make up the Houtman Abrolhos island chain in Western Australia. Nominally located at , it consists of a numbe ...

in the Houtman Albrohos. In 1943

Gilbert Percy Whitley Gilbert Percy Whitley (9 June 1903 – 18 July 1975) was a British-born Australian ichthyologist and malacologist who was Curator of Fishes at the Australian Museum in Sydney for about 40 years. He was born at Swaythling, Southampton, England ...

placed this species in the

monospecific 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 ''Pelsartia''.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1808362 Terapontidae Fish described in 1899