Haemulidae
A fish family known for sound production via pharyngeal teeth.
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The grunts, scientifically known as Haemulidae, are a fish family belonging to the order Acanthuriformes. This group splits into two subfamilies: Haemulinae (the grunts proper) and Plectorhynchinae (the sweetlips). Worldwide, the family includes roughly 133 species spread across 19 genera. These fish typically live in tropical, subtropical, and warm temperate zones, and they occupy marine, brackish, and occasionally freshwater environments.
Their feeding strategies vary widely, ranging from preying on bottom-dwelling creatures to filtering plankton from the water column. The common name "grunts" comes from the Haemulinae subfamily’s ability to make noise by grinding their pharyngeal teeth. Some species also form mutualistic relationships with cleaner gobies from the genus Elacatinus, allowing the gobies to feed on external parasites attached to their bodies.
Scientific classification
- KingdomAnimalia
- PhylumChordata
- ClassActinopterygii
- DivisionTeleostei
- OrderAcanthuriformes
- FamilyHaemulidae
Named by T. N. Gill, 1885
Sources: Wikipedia taxobox: Haemulidae (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Quick Facts
- Order
- Acanthuriformes
- Common name
- grunts
- Subfamilies
- Haemulinae and Plectorhynchinae
- Species count
- about 133
- Genera count
- 19
- Habitat
- tropical, subtropical, and warm temperate regions; marine, brackish, and sometimes fresh waters
Facts from the source article.
Background
The family Haemulidae is divided into two subfamilies: Haemulinae (grunts) and Plectorhynchinae (sweetlips). The subfamily Haemulinae includes genera such as Anisotremus, Boridia, Brachydeuterus, Brachygenys, Conodon, Emmelichthyops, Haemulon, Haemulopsis, Isacia, Microlepidotus, Orthopristis, Parakuhlia, Paranisotremus, Pomadasys, Rhencus, Rhonciscus, and Xenichthys. The subfamily Plectorhynchinae includes Diagramma, Genyatremus, Parapristipoma, and Plectorhinchus.
One of the earliest known fossil grunts is †Pomadasys sadeki (formerly placed in its own genus, Kemtichthys) from the Middle Eocene-aged Mokattam Formation of Egypt. The family is named for the ability of Haemulinae to produce sounds by grinding their pharyngeal teeth. Some species engage in mutualistic relationships with cleaner gobies of the genus Elacatinus, allowing them to feed on ectoparasites on their bodies.
More in Grunts
Elsewhere in Snappers and Grunts
Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Haemulidae (CC BY-SA 4.0).
- Word definitions: the , each quoted from its Wikipedia article.
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