Eastern Striped Grunter, Pelates sexlineatus (Quoy & Gaimard, 1824)

Scientific name: Pelates sexlineatus
Alternative name/s:
Eastern Striped Trumpeter, Six-lined Trumpeter, Trumpeter Perch
Eastern Striped Grunter Click to enlarge image
An Eastern Striped Grunter photographed at night at a depth of 6 m, Little Beach, Nelson Bay, New South Wales, February 2004. Image: Dave Harasti
© Dave Harasti

Fast Facts

  • Classification
    Genus
    Pelates
    Species
    sexlineatus
    Family
    Terapontidae
    Order
    Perciformes
    Class
    Actinopterygii
    Subphylum
    Vertebrata
    Phylum
    Chordata
    Kingdom
    Animalia
  • Size Range
    The species grows to 20 cm in length.

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

  1. Edgar, G.J. 1997. Australian Marine Life: the plants and animals of temperate waters. Reed Books. Pp. 544.
  2. Hutchins, B. & R. Swainston. 1986. Sea Fishes of Southern Australia. Complete Field Guide for Anglers and Divers. Swainston Publishing. Pp. 180.
  3. 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.