Sealife guideThe blue striped gruntHaemulon sciurus

Taxonomy
  • Common name: Blue striped grunt, boar grunt, golden grunt, humpback grunt, redmouth grunt, yellow grunt
  • French name: Gorette bleue, gorette catire, grogneur écureuil, gueule rouge
  • Spanish name: Ronco carite
  • Scientific name: Haemulon sciurus (Shaw, 1803)
  • Family name: Haemulidae
  • Order name: Perciformes
  • Class name: Actinopterygii
Description
The blue-striped grunt is a medium-sized fish about 8 inches long, with a maximum length of around 16 inches. It has an oblong body with a dominant yellow color and numerous fine horizontal stripes of very bright blue. The tail fin and the soft-rayed part of the dorsal fin (the second section of the dorsal fin starting from the head) are entirely black with a pale yellow edge. The other fins are all yellow.
The inside of the blue-striped grunt's mouth is a bright red, earning it the common names « redmouth grunt ».
Range
The blue-striped grunt is commonly found in the Caribbean sea and Florida. It inhabits tropical waters from the western Atlantic ocean, from Florida in the north to the coasts of Brazil in the south, including many Caribbean islands like the Bahamas, Guadeloupe, …
In the Gulf of Mexico, the blue-striped grunt is rarer and is mostly found in its lower regions along the Mexican coast.
Habitat
The blue-striped grunt usually lives in shallow waters, from the surface to about 100 feet deep. It forms schools of varying sizes along the coasts, in mangroves and seagrass beds, near coral reefs, and along rocky substrates.
It favors drop-offs or rocky overhangs.
Diet
The blue-striped grunt feeds on small crustaceans, bivalve mollusks, and smaller fish in seagrass beds and mangroves.
Its main predators are larger fish such as sharks and groupers.
Reproduction
The blue-striped grunt reproduces sexually and spawns in the Caribbean Sea from January to April. At birth, the juveniles take refuge in seagrass beds and mangroves.
Juveniles are characterized by a black spot at the base of the tail and broad longitudinal stripes.
Did you know ?
The common name « grunt » comes from the sounds the fish makes, which are similar to the grunts of a pig. These sounds are produced by the fish's throat teeth which are particularly well-developed.
Grunts are related to the snapper family but are generally smaller and have a more deeply forked tail.
The blue striped grunt is listed as many other marine species within The IUCN Red List of threatened species. The blue striped grunt appears in the IUCN Red List since 2016 within the category Least Concern !
Within the same genus
Smallmouth grunt (Haemulon chrysargyreum)
Smallmouth grunt
(Haemulon chrysargyreum)
White grunt (Haemulon plumierii)
White grunt
(Haemulon plumierii)
French grunt (Haemulon flavolineatum)
French grunt
(Haemulon flavolineatum)
Cottonwick grunt (Haemulon melanurum)
Cottonwick grunt
(Haemulon melanurum)
Within the same family
Oriental sweetlips (Plectorhinchus vittatus)
Oriental sweetlips
(Plectorhinchus vittatus)
Blackspotted rubberlips (Plectorhinchus gaterinus)
Blackspotted rubberlips
(Plectorhinchus gaterinus)
Diagonal-banded Sweetlip (Plectorhinchus lineatus)
Diagonal-banded Sweetlip
(Plectorhinchus lineatus)
Ribboned sweetlips (Plectorhinchus polytaenia)
Ribboned sweetlips
(Plectorhinchus polytaenia)
Harlequin sweetlips (Plectorhinchus chaetodonoides)
Harlequin sweetlips
(Plectorhinchus chaetodonoides)
Painted sweetlips (Diagramma pictum)
Painted sweetlips
(Diagramma pictum)
Porkfish (Anisotremus virginicus)
Porkfish
(Anisotremus virginicus)
Black margate (Anisotremus surinamensis)
Black margate
(Anisotremus surinamensis)
Explore also
Gag grouper (Mycteroperca microlepis)
Gag grouper
(Mycteroperca microlepis)
Blacktailed damselfish (Dascyllus melanurus)
Blacktailed damselfish
(Dascyllus melanurus)
Azure damselfish (Chrysiptera hemicyanea)
Azure damselfish
(Chrysiptera hemicyanea)
Eastern blue devil (Paraplesiops bleekeri)
Eastern blue devil
(Paraplesiops bleekeri)
Bluespotted wrasse (Anampses caeruleopunctatus)
Bluespotted wrasse
(Anampses caeruleopunctatus)
Yellow-ear angelfish (Apolemichthys xanthotis)
Yellow-ear angelfish
(Apolemichthys xanthotis)
Ocean tang (Acanthurus bahianus)
Ocean tang
(Acanthurus bahianus)
Yellowsaddle goatfish (Parupeneus cyclostomus)
Yellowsaddle goatfish
(Parupeneus cyclostomus)
The marine species from Caribbean sea
Hawksbill sea turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata)
Hawksbill sea turtle
(Eretmochelys imbricata)
Long-spined sea urchin (Diadema antillarum)
Long-spined sea urchin
(Diadema antillarum)
Longsnout seahorse (Hippocampus reidi)
Longsnout seahorse
(Hippocampus reidi)
Mutton snapper (Lutjanus analis)
Mutton snapper
(Lutjanus analis)
Red grouper (Epinephelus morio)
Red grouper
(Epinephelus morio)
Spotted drum (Equetus punctatus)
Spotted drum
(Equetus punctatus)
Spotted goatfish (Pseudupeneus maculatus)
Spotted goatfish
(Pseudupeneus maculatus)
White grunt (Haemulon plumierii)
White grunt
(Haemulon plumierii)
Dive centers
Centre de plongée des Ilets
'Les Ilets' dive center
Noa Plongée
Noa dive center
Vous abonnez !

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