Scientific Name
Lethrinus microdon

Common Name
Smalltooth emperor

Biology
Dorsal spines (total): 10; Dorsal soft rays (total): 9; Anal spines: 3; Anal soft rays: 8. The snout is moderately long, its dorsal profile slightly concave. Body color is bluish gray or brown often with scattered irregular dark blotches on sides; sometimes three dark streaks radiate forward from the eye. The fins are pale or orangish.

Classification

Classified By

Valenciennes, 1830

Class

Ray-finned fishes (Actinopterygii)

Order

Perch-like fish (Perciformes)

Family

Emperors or scavengers (Lethrinidae)

Distribution

Region

Indo-West Pacific

Distribution

Indo-West Pacific: widespread, including the Red Sea, Arabian (Persian) Gulf, East Africa to Sri Lanka, to the Ryukyu Islands and Papua New Guinea. Also recorded from Micronesia (Ref. 3807) and French Polynesia (Ref. 4517) but these are probably misidentifications of Lethrinus olivaceus.

Range

32°N - 23°S

Environment

Climate

Tropical

Water Temperature From

Unknown °C

Water Temperature To

Unknown °C

Depth From - meters

Unknown m

Depth To - meters

80 m

Zone

reef-associated

Environment

Marine; reef-associated; non-migratory; depth range ? - 80 m (Ref. 2295)

Trophic Level

3.79 s.e. 0.53 Based on food items.

Occurs in Marine / Salt water

True

Occurs in Brackish water

False

Occurs in Fresh Water

False

Occurs on Reefs

True

Is kept in Aquariums

False

Physical Size and Genetics

Maximum Length

80.0 cm

Common Length

40.0 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 to high vulnerability (46 of 100)

Resilience

Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (K=0.20)

Threat To Humans

Reports of ciguatera poisoning (Ref. 31637)

IUCN Red List Status

Not Evaluated