Sealife guideThe french gruntHaemulon flavolineatum

The french grunt (Haemulon flavolineatum)

Taxonomy

Common name: French grunt, banana grunt, gold laced grunt, open-mouthed grunt, redmouth grunt, yellow grunt
French name: Gorette jaune
Spanish name: Ronco condenado
Scientific name: Haemulon flavolineatum (Desmarest, 1823)
Family name: Haemulidae
Order name: Perciformes
Class name: Actinopterygii

Description

The french grunt is a medium-sized fish, about 6 inches long, with a maximum length of around 12 inches. The french grunt has an oblong body, predominantly yellow with broad yellow stripes that are horizontal on the upper part of the body and oblique below the lateral line. Its pelvic, dorsal, anal and caudal fins are also entirely yellow.

The french grunt is predominantly yellow due to its broad yellow stripes, which run horizontally on the upper part of the body and obliquely below the lateral line, as well as the yellow color of its fins

Juvenile french grunts have a slightly different appearance with a black spot at the base of their tail and additional broad black horizontal stripes across their body !

Range

The french grunt is commonly found in the Caribbean sea, the Gulf of Mexico and along the coasts of Florida. It inhabits the tropical waters of the western Atlantic, from Florida in the north to the coasts of Brazil in the south, including Central America and the Caribbean with its many islands like the Keys, the Bahamas and Guadeloupe.

Habitat

The french grunt typically lives in shallow waters from the surface down to about 100 feet. It forms large schools, sometimes numbering in the thousands, around coral reefs. These schools often stay sheltered along rocks, under rock overhangs or beneath large branches of elkhorn coral.

Diet

The french grunt is a carnivorous fish that hunts at night. Its diet consists mainly of small crustaceans, mollusks and marine worms.

Juvenile french grunts are distinguishable from adults by a black spot at the base of their tail and additional broad black longitudinal stripes, which fade as they age !

Observe the red color inside the mouth of the french grunt, which gives it its english name « redmouth grunt » ! © Luizrocha | Dreamstime.com

In the marine food chain, the french grunt is preyed upon by larger reef fish such as groupers.

Reproduction

The french grunt reproduces sexually. Juvenile french grunts are characterized by a black spot at the base of the tail and broad longitudinal black stripes that fade with age.

Did you know ?

The common english name « grunt » refers to the sounds the fish makes, which resemble the grunts of a pig. The sound is produced by the fish's well-developed teeth located in its throat.

Grunts are related to snappers but are generally smaller and have more deeply forked tails.

The french grunt is listed as many other marine species within The IUCN Red List of threatened species. The french grunt appears in the IUCN Red List since 2016 within the category Least Concern !

Tips for observing

Schools of grunts are rarely composed of individuals of a single species. It is common to see a predominant species along with one or more individuals of other species, so you might often observe a school of french grunts with one or more blue striped grunts, white grunts or smallmouth grunts.

When the french grunt does not form an entire school on its own, it stays inconspicuous and blends into schools of other grunt species !

Within the same genus

Smallmouth grunt
(Haemulon chrysargyreum)

White grunt
(Haemulon plumierii)

Blue striped grunt
(Haemulon sciurus)

Cottonwick grunt
(Haemulon melanurum)

Within the same family

Oriental sweetlips
(Plectorhinchus vittatus)

Blackspotted rubberlips
(Plectorhinchus gaterinus)

Diagonal-banded Sweetlip
(Plectorhinchus lineatus)

Ribboned sweetlips
(Plectorhinchus polytaenia)

Harlequin sweetlips
(Plectorhinchus chaetodonoides)

Painted sweetlips
(Diagramma pictum)

Porkfish
(Anisotremus virginicus)

Black margate
(Anisotremus surinamensis)

Explore also

European conger eel
(Conger conger)

False leopard wrasse
(Macropharyngodon ornatus)

Grey moray
(Gymnothorax griseus)

Zebra moray
(Gymnomuraena zebra)

Sixbar angelfish
(Pomacanthus sexstriatus)

Yellow lemonpeel angelfish
(Pomacanthus navarchus)

Chevroned butterflyfish
(Chaetodon trifascialis)

Shadowfin soldierfish
(Myripristis adusta)

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