| Leiopotherapon unicolor | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Perciformes |
| Family: | Terapontidae |
| Genus: | Leiopotherapon |
| Species: | L. unicolor |
| Binomial name | |
| Leiopotherapon unicolor (Günther, 1859) | |
| Synonyms [2] | |
| |
Leiopotherapon unicolor, the spangled grunter or spangled perch is a species of ray-finned fish, a grunter from the family Terapontidae. It is endemic to Australia.
Leiopotherapon unicolor has a slender, oval shaped body which is somewhat compressed, although the juveniles are more rotund. The dorsal profile is mainly convex, the ventral profile is evenly convex and it has a long snout. The mouth is oblique, the maxillary extending past the level of the front of the eye and is equipped with strong conical teeth with those in the outer row enlarged and the inner band being villiform and there are no teeth on the roof of the mouth. They have a continuous dorsal fin with a spiny part to the front which is rounded and contains 11-13 spines with the third or fourth spines being the longerst. The rear part of the dorsal fin has 9-12 soft rays the longest being longer than the longest dorsal fin spines. The anal fin has 3 short spines and 7-10 soft rays and has a softly, rounded shape. The caudal fin is slightly emarginate. [3] It is an attractive species which is silvery grey to silvery blue in colour on the body marked with many reddish-brown spots, apart from the abdomen. The juveniles have an obvious dark bar on lower lobe of the caudal fin. [4] The maximum recorded standard length is 31 centimetres (12 in). [2]
Leiopotherapon unicolor has the widest distribution of any freshwater grunter in Australia and is found over most of the northern two thirds of the continent as far south as Newcastle, New South Wales. [3]
Leiopotherapon unicolor occurs in a wide range of water conditions, it can be found in running to still waters with turbidity ranging from clear to almost opaque as well as being able to tolerate a wide range of salinities and showing the ability to live in a wide range of temperatures. [3] Among the waterbodies it can be found include intermittent waters, and these waters are where it is most numerous. It also inhabits lakes, dams, rivers, billabongs, bore drains, wells and waterholes. [1] In the interior of Australia this species may be found in any temporary waterbody, even wheel ruts flooded after rains. [2] This species is purported to appear in odd places following so called "rain of fish", as they are often observed scattered on the ground in the aftermath of heavy downpours. However, the fish have been transported to these places by flooding. [5] This hardy species can survive dry periods by aestivation in the least amount of moisture in the bottom of a temporary waterbody. [2] It is an omnivorous species which has a diet of consisting largely of aquatic and terrestrial insects, crustaceans and some molluscs, however it will also prey on small fish and consume a small amount of algae and aquatic weeds. [4] Spawning takes place from November when water temperatures reach 20–26 °C (68–79 °F) and happens during the night. Before spawning the fish move upstream in rivers or towards the shallows in lakes and ponds so that they can spawn on soft beds. Once laid the eggs take two days to hatch and the larvae take around 24 days to change to juveniles. The males guard and fan the eggs. [2] The females attain sexual maturity at a standard length of 78 millimetres (3.1 in) and a 24 grams (0.85 oz) female may produce 24,000 eggs and one at 65 grams (2.3 oz) can produce 113,200. [5]
Leiopotherapon unicolor was first formally described as Therapon unicolor in 1859 by the German-born British ichthyologist and herpetologist Albert Günther (1830-1914) with the type locality given as Mosquito Creek and Gwydir River in New South Wales. [6]
The snowy grouper is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a grouper from the subfamily Epinephelinae which is part of the family Serranidae, which also includes the anthias and sea basses. It is found in the western Atlantic Ocean.
The Fortescue grunter is a species of freshwater ray-finned fish, a grunter from the family Terapontidae. It is endemic to rivers in Western Australia.
The yellowtail trumpeter is a common species of coastal marine fish of the grunter family, Terapontidae. The yellowtail trumpeter is native to Australia and Papua New Guinea, ranging from Cape Leeuwin in Western Australia along the north coast to Bowen, Queensland, and along the southern coast of Papua New Guinea.
Scatophagus argus, the spotted scat, butterfish, mia mia, spotted butterfish or tiger scat, is a species of fish in the scat family Scatophagidae. It occurs in two basic color morphs which are called green scat and ruby or red scat. This fish is generally distributed around the Indo-Pacific region, to Japan, New Guinea, and southeastern Australia. They live in coastal muddy areas, including estuaries, mangroves, harbours, and the lower courses of rivers. They are popular aquarium fish.
The longnose trevally, also known as the tea-leaf trevally, club-nosed trevally, grunting trevally or dusky trevally, is a species of inshore marine fish in the jack family, Carangidae. The species is distributed throughout the tropical and subtropical waters of the Indian and west Pacific Oceans from South Africa to New Zealand and Japan, inhabiting coastal waters, especially reefs, to a depth of 90 m. The longnose trevally is distinguished from similar species by a combination of a scaleless breast and the number of gill rakers and fin rays. It is a moderately large fish, growing to a maximum known length of 72 cm and 4.35 kg. The longnose trevally is a predatory fish, consuming small fish, crustaceans and molluscs. The species is of minor commercial importance throughout its range, and is considered to be a good table fish.
Terapon jarbua, the jarbua terapon, crescent grunter, crescent banded grunter, crescent perch, spiky trumpeter, thornfish or tiger perch, is a species of ray-finned fish, a grunter of the family Terapontidae. It occurs in the Indo-Pacific. it is an important commercial species within its range and is sometimes found in the aquarium trade where it is known as "target fish" for the pattern visible from above.
The king threadfin, also known as the blind salmon, blink tassel-fish, burnett salmon, gold threadfin, king salmon, kingfish, Sheridan threadfin, triped tassel fish, or threadfin salmon, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a threadfin from the family Polynemidae which is found in southern New Guinea and northern Australia.
The bluestriped grunt, also known as the boar grunt, golden grunt, humpback grunt, redmouth grunt, or yellow grunt, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a grunt belonging to the family Haemulidae. It is found in the western Atlantic Ocean.
The sooty grunter, also known by the name black bream, blubberlips, Northern grunter or purple grunter, is a species of freshwater ray-finned fish, a grunter from the family Terapontidae. It inhabits coastal and inland freshwater creeks and rivers of northern Australia.
Terapon theraps, the largescaled terapon, banded grunter, banded trumpeter, flagtail grunter, flagtail trumpeter, large-scaled grunter-perch, Northern grunter and spiky trumpeter, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a grunter from the family Terapontidae. This species has a wide distribution in the Indo-Pacific region.
Pomadasys maculatus, commonly known as the saddle grunt, blotched grunt or blotched javelin, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a grunt belonging to the family Haemulidae. It is native to the Indo-West Pacific region.
Pomadasys kaakan, the javelin grunter or barred javelin is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a grunt belonging to the family Haemulidae. It is native to the Indian and Pacific Oceans, from Africa to Australia.
Plectorhinchus gibbosus, commonly known as the Harry hotlips, black sweetlips, brown sweetlips, dusky sweetlips, gibbous sweetlips, hairy hotlips or humpback sweetlips, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a sweetlips belonging to the subfamily Plectorhinchinae, one of two subfamilies in the family Haemulidae, the grunts. It is native to the Western Pacific and Indian Oceans.
The southern pygmy perch, also known as the Tasmanian pygmy perch, is a species of freshwater ray-finned fish, a temperate perch from the family Percichthyidae which is native to southeastern Australia and Tasmania.
Bidyanus welchi, commonly known as Welch's grunter, black bream, or silver bream, is a species of freshwater ray-finned fish from the family Terapontidae native to Australia.
Plectorhinchus caeruleonothus, the blue bastard, is a species of ray-finned fish belonging to the subfamily Plectorhinchinae, the sweetlips, one of two subfamilies in the family Haemulidae, the grunts. It was discovered in Australia in 2015.
Pelates quadrilineatus, also known as the trumpeter perch or fourlined terapon, is a species of ray-finned fish in the family Terapontidae, the grunters. It occurs in the western Indo-Pacific region, and also in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, having arrived there by passing through the Suez Canal.
Terapon puta, the spiny-checked grunter, three-lined grunter, small-scaled banded grunter, small-scaled terapon, squeaking perch or two-lined grunter, is a species of fish from the Indo-Pacific region, it is a member of the grunter family, Terapontidae. It has also spread into the eastern Mediterranean Sea from the Red Sea through the Suez Canal, a process known as Lessepsian migration.
The sea trumpeter is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a grunter from the family Terapontidae. It is endemic to the southeastern Indian Ocean off the southwestern coats of Australia.
The sharpbeak terapon is a species of ray-finned fish, a grunter from the family Terapontidae. It is found in the coastal waters of Asia from southern Japan to the Philippines.
