African striped grunt

The African striped grunt (Parapristipoma octolineatum) is a marine fish in the sweetlips group, part of the grunt family Haemulidae. It lives in the eastern Atlantic Ocean.

This fish has a long body, a large eye, and a big, slanted mouth with a noticeable chin and a short snout. Its dorsal fin is continuous, with 13 spines and 14 to 15 soft rays; the anal fin has 3 spines and 7 soft rays. Though it looks black underwater, its upper body is actually brownish, and the lower body is silvery.

Four white horizontal stripes run along each side, with two crossing the black eyes. The fins are yellow, and the tail fin is brighter than the others. The maximum standard length is 50 cm (20 in), but a typical length is 25 cm (9.8 in).

The species ranges along West Africa from Angola north to Morocco, including the Gulf of Guinea islands, the Macaronesian Islands, and the southern Iberian Peninsula. It also extends into the southern Mediterranean as far east as Tunisia. Vagrants have been found in the Bay of Biscay off western France.

It lives at depths between 2 and 180 m (6 ft 7 in to 590 ft 7 in), over sandy and rocky bottoms, feeding on crustaceans and molluscs. Males and females form distinct pairs for spawning. Juveniles move inshore to claim territories.

The African striped grunt was first formally described in 1833 by French zoologist Achille Valenciennes, with the type locality given as Gorée, Senegal. Its specific name, octolineatum, means "eight-lined," referring to the four stripes on each flank.

It is caught occasionally throughout its range, but it is not common, and catches are not reported separately. It is taken with trammel nets, bottom trawls, and hook and line, and most of the catch is sold fresh.