''Lethrinus miniatus'', the sweetlip emperor, sweetlip swoose or trumpet emperor, is a fish of the family Lethrinidae. It can be found on

coral reef A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in groups. C ...

s and moderately warm waters in the Western

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contin ...

, although its primary habitat is the

Great Barrier Reef The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef system composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over over an area of approximately . The reef is located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland, ...

. It can also be found in the coastal regions in the centre of

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 ...

. Growing up to in length and 9.6 kg (21.2 lbs), it is light grey in colour and has small black scale centres dotted around its body. Its first dorsal (on the back or top of the fish) fin is red, before changing towards the tail to a darker colour. The area around the base of its

pectoral fins 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 see ...

(on the chest behind the head) is red or orange. The area around its eyes, the corner of its mouth and on parts of the fins on the bottom can also be red or orange. Sweetlip emperors are carnivorous

predator Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill th ...

s in the reef; however, their main prey are small

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 such as crabs, as well as

sand dollar Sand dollars (also known as a sea cookie or snapper biscuit in New Zealand, or pansy shell in South Africa) are species of flat, burrowing sea urchins belonging to the order Clypeasteroida. Some species within the order, not quite as flat, are k ...

s and small fish. They also eat most other organisms that live near the bottom of the reef. Even though sweetlip emperors live at the bottom of the reef, they are found only on the continental shelf where the bottom is sandy and light. They also choose a home near a reef for protection from other predators. Today, species of emperor in the reef (including the sweetlip emperor) are threatened because they are desired by both

commercial fishing Commercial fishing is the activity of catching fish and other seafood for commercial profit, mostly from wild fisheries. It provides a large quantity of food to many countries around the world, but those who practice it as an industry must often ...

operations and pleasure fishers, due to their vibrant colour and delightful taste. Sweetlip emperors have an unusual breeding and development pattern. Off the coast of Cairns, they spawn almost all the time. Off the coast of Townsville, they mate in June and August, and off the coast in October and November in more southern waters. These different breeding times are due to different water temperatures. Sweetlip emperors can spawn (like eggs that hatch eventually) only in warmer water. The young live near the shore in

seagrass Seagrasses are the only flowering plants which grow in marine environments. There are about 60 species of fully marine seagrasses which belong to four families (Posidoniaceae, Zosteraceae, Hydrocharitaceae and Cymodoceaceae), all in the or ...

beds and mangrove swamps, where the water is shallow. As they grow older, they begin to move out towards the ocean like the adults. As they grow and get older, their sex changes from female to male.

References

External links

ITIS Report
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1042285 Lethrinidae Fish described in 1801