Species: Haemulon flavolineatum, French Grunt

Haemulon flavolineatum (Desmarest, 1823)

French Grunt

Body oblong, compressed; body depth 34-38% of SL; head bluntly pointed, its upper profile slightly convex; rear margin of bone under eye concealed by scales; mouth small to moderate, lips not fleshy; underside of chin with 2 large pores and a central groove; preoperculum finely serrated, without spines; gill rakers 22-24; dorsal fin continuous, with small to moderate notch in middle, XII, 15 (14-16); anal rays III, 8, 2nd and 3rd spines similar; tail forked; soft dorsal and anal densely scaled nearly to the edge of the fin; scales rough; scales over entire body and head except front of snout, lips and chin; pectoral fin scaled on base only; lateral-line scales 48-49; scale rows below lateral line oblique to body axis; scales below front of lateral line ~twice size of those above line.

Adult: silvery grey; head and body with ~12 dense yellow stripes, those below lateral line oblique; all fins yellow; inside mouth red. Juvenile: 3 brown stripes: 1 from snout through eye to tail base, ending in a double brown spot on tail fin base; 1 from top of eye back to end of operculum; 1 from above eye along top of back; indistinct oblique brown lines on mid body.

Size: attains 30 cm.

Habitat: on reefs and hard bottoms; seagrass beds.

Depth: 0-89 m.

Bermuda to the southern Caribbean.