Eastern Striped Grunter, Pelates sexlineatus (Quoy & Gaimard, 1824)
Eastern Striped Trumpeter, Six-lined Trumpeter, Trumpeter Perch
Introduction
The Eastern Striped Grunter is brownish to silver-grey with six dark stripes along the body. It lives in estuaries and coastal reefs.
Identification
The Eastern Striped Grunter is brownish to silver-grey with six dark stripes along the body. It has a small mouth and a coarsely serrated preopercular margin.
Three species of Pelates are found in Australian waters. The Fourline Striped Grunter, Pelates quadrilineatus is known from northern New South Wales. It differs from the Eastern Striped Trumpeter by having an additional short stripe between the upper stripes and a dark region on the spinous dorsal fin. The Western Striped Grunter, Pelates octolineatus occurs in South Australia and south-western to central Western Australia. It has a shorter head than the Eastern Striped Trumpeter and the upper lines are often broken into a series of spots.
Habitat
It lives in estuaries and coastal reefs in depths of 1 m to 30 m.
Distribution
The Eastern Striped Grunter occurs from southern Queensland to southern New South Wales.
The map below shows the Australian distribution of the species based on public sightings and specimens in Australian Museums. Source: Atlas of Living Australia.
References
- Edgar, G.J. 1997. Australian Marine Life: the plants and animals of temperate waters. Reed Books. Pp. 544.
- Hutchins, B. & R. Swainston. 1986. Sea Fishes of Southern Australia. Complete Field Guide for Anglers and Divers. Swainston Publishing. Pp. 180.
- Kuiter, R.H. 1996. Guide to Sea Fishes of Australia. New Holland. Pp. 433. Kuiter, R.H. 2000. Coastal Fishes of South-eastern Australia. Gary Allen. Pp. 437.