Striped Sweetlips

Plectorhinchus lessonii is a species of grunts, the sweetlips, found in fresh, brackish, and salt waters.

Description

Adults are white with yellow lips. A head is with greenish black horizontal stripes and broken lines. A back is with 4-5 brown stripes. An abdomen is without stripes. Pectoral fin base has black spot. Dorsal, anal, and caudal fins have brown large spots. Juveniles have a white horizontal stripe above eye to soft dorsal fin, and black stripe from head to tail midlateral broad. Body depth is 2.5-2.8 in SL. Caudal fin is rounded in juveniles becoming truncate in adult. Dorsal 3rd to 5th spines are longest.

Distribution

Western Pacific: Malaysia to Melanesia, north to Japan.

Habitat

It is found in inner and outer reef lagoons, usually in caves along steep slopes. Juveniles in shallow lagoons or protected shallow reefs. During the day, occurs under coral ledges of channel and outer reef slopes. Solitary.