Subfamily Plectorhynchinae: The
Heartbreaking Grunts that are Sweetlips: Many species of these
Grunts are beautiful as young, a few as adults... but most all die due
to starvation principally (stress overall) as youngsters.
Genus Diagramma: Differ from Plectorhinchus in
having much longer caudal peduncles (part of body before tail) and
fewer dorsal fin spines.
| Diagramma labiosum Macleay 1883, the Slate
Sweetlips. Indo-Pacific, including the Red Sea. To ten inches in
length. Very similar to Painted Sweetlips, Diagramma pictus,
as juveniles and adults. This school and individual photographed
off Australia's Great Barrier Reef. |
 
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| Diagramma pictum (Thunberg 1792), the
Painted Sweetlips. Indo-West Pacific; Red Sea, eastern Africa to
Japan and New Caledonia. to about a meter total length. At right:
Half and one inch juveniles in N. Sulawesi. Below: First Row: three
to four inch individuals in N. Sulawesi. Second row: A sub-adult
one in Redang, Malaysia and adults off of Mabul,
Malaysia. |
 
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Genus Plectorhinchus:
| Plectorhinchus albovittatus (Ruppell 1838),
the Two-Stripe or Giant Sweetlips. Indo-west Pacific, including the
Red Sea. To a meter in length. The largest Sweetlips species.
Aquarium and N. Sulawesi juveniles. http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/SpeciesSummary.cfm?ID=
6362&genusname=Plectorhinchus&speciesname=albovittatus |
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| Plectorhinchus chaetodonoides Lacepede 1801,
the Clown or Harlequin Sweetlips. Western Pacific. To twenty nine
inches. The most commonly used species of the family... but rarely
lives more than a few days in captivity. At right, a tiny,
half-inch baby in its typical crazy/rapid "dance" (to
avoid predation?) in S. Sulawesi. Below: Images of a juvenile
(about three inches) in Fiji, a four inch or so individual in
Mabul, Malaysia and a foot long adult in Fiji. |
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| Plectorhinchus chrysotaenia (Bleeker 1855),
the Yellow-Striped Sweetlips. Western Pacific. To sixteen inches in
length. This semi-adult of about eight inches in
Bunaken/Sulawesi/Indonesia. |
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| Plectorhinchus diagrammus (Linnaeus 1758),
the Striped Sweetlips. Western Pacific, to sixteen inches in
length. Two, four and five inch individuals in captivity. |
| Plectorhinchus gaterinus (Forsskal 1775),
the Black-Spotted Rubberlips or Gaterin. Western Indian Ocean and
Red Sea. About the hardiest member of the subfamily, but does get
to twenty inches in length. |
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| Plectorhinchus gibbosus (Lacepede 1802), the
Brown Sweetlips. Indo-West Pacific; Red Sea to South Africa to
Samoa and Australia. To some thirty inches in length. This one off
of Pulau Redang, Malaysia. |
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| Plectorhinchus lessoni Cuvier
1830. West Pacific, to sixteen inches long. A juv. in the wild. Below: An adult in S. Sulawesi, and two adults in N.
Sulawesi. |
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| Plectorhinchus lineatus (Linnaeus 1758), the
Yellow-Banded Sweetlips. Indo-West Pacific. To twenty nine inches
in length in the wild. A juvenile in captivity and an adult in N.
Sulawesi. |
 
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| Plectorhinchus obscurus (Synonym for P.
albovittatus) |
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| Plectorhinchus orientalis (Bloch 1793), the
Oriental Sweetlips. A commonly encountered (much of tropical
Indo-Pacific) species in the wild and in the aquarium trade. Rarely
lives for any period of time. To thirty four inches in length (not
a mis-print). Below, a juvenile in the Maldives, a sub-adult in N.
Sulawesi and an adult coloration individual in Fiji. |
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| Plectorhinchus picus (Cuvier 1830), the
Dotted or Painted Sweetlips. Indo-Pacific. Below, a three inch one
in captivity, a juvenile in the Long Beach, California Public
Aquarium of the Pacific and one in the Seychelles on a poor
visibility day), to thirty three inches in length. "Marketed
fresh". |
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| Plectorhinchus vittatus (Linnaeus 1758), the
Indian Ocean Oriental Sweetlips. Indo-West Pacific (this six inch
one in Bunaken/Sulawesi/Indonesia). To only two feet in
length. |
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