Haemulidae

Grunts
Haemulon album
Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Perciformes
Superfamily: Percoidea
Family: Haemulidae
T. N. Gill, 1885
Subfamilies
  • Haemulinae Gill, 1885
  • Plectorhynchinae Jordan & Thompson 1912
Synonyms

Haemulidae is a family of fishes in the order Perciformes known commonly as grunts. It is made up of the two subfamilies Haemulinae (grunters) and Plectorhynchinae (sweetlips), which in turn contain about 133 species in 19 genera. These fish are found in tropical fresh, brackish, and salt waters around the world. They are bottom-feeding predators, and named for the ability of Haemulinae to produce sound by grinding their teeth. They also engage in mutualistic relationship with cleaner gobies of genus Elacatinus, allowing them to feed on ectoparasites on their bodies.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.