Scientific Name
Pomadasys argenteus

Common Name
Silver grunt

Biology
Dorsal spines (total): 12; Dorsal soft rays (total): 13-14; Anal spines: 3; Anal soft rays: 7. Body ovate; head profile almost straight. Mouth small; lips not thickened; two pores and a central groove under the chin. No antrorse spine before the dorsal fin origin; notch between the spinous and soft-rayed portion of the dorsal fin shallow. Color is generally silver-mauve to fawn above, white below. Small specimens with numerous spots aligned horizontally or fused into horizontal lines; large specimens plain or with scattered charcoal scale spots on back and upper sides; the snout is dark brown; the upper operculum charcoal or purplish.

Classification

Classified By

Forssk?l, 1775

Class

Ray-finned fishes (Actinopterygii)

Order

Perch-like fish (Perciformes)

Family

Grunts (Haemulidae)

Distribution

Region

Indo-West Pacific

Distribution

Indo-West Pacific: Red Sea to the Philippines (but without record from the Persian Gulf), north to southern Japan (Ref. 559), and south to northern Australia. Also reported from New Caledonia (Ref. 11889). Recently recorded from Oman (Ref. 11441) and Kuwait (Ref. 80050).

Range

40°N - 27°S, 32°E - 170°E

Environment

Climate

Tropical

Water Temperature From

26 °C

Water Temperature To

29 °C

Depth From - meters

15 m

Depth To - meters

115 m

Zone

demersal

Environment

Marine; freshwater; brackish; demersal; depth range 15 - 115 m (Ref. 12260)

Trophic Level

3.42 s.e. 0.52 Based on diet studies.

Occurs in Marine / Salt water

True

Occurs in Brackish water

True

Occurs in Fresh Water

True

Occurs on Reefs

False

Is kept in Aquariums

False

Physical Size and Genetics

Maximum Length

70.0 cm

Common Length

25.0 cm

Phylogenetic Diversity Index

PD50 = 0.5000 many relatives (e.g. carps) 0.5 - 2.0 few relatives (e.g. lungfishes)

Human Uses and Population

Human Uses

Fisheries: commercial

Vulnerability

Moderate vulnerability (38 of 100)

Resilience

Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (K=0.2-0.5; tmax=19)

Threat To Humans

Harmless

IUCN Red List Status

Not Evaluated