The Grunt Family – Haemulidae
There are currently THIRTY-NINE members of the Grunt or Haemulidae Family, sixteen from the Atlantic Ocean and twenty-three from the Pacific Ocean, are presented in this website:
FROM THE ATLANTIC (16):
Boga, Haemulon vittatum
FROM THE PACIFIC (23):
Blackbarred Grunt, Genyatremus dovii
Bronzestriped Grunt
Orthopristis reddingi
Burrito Grunt, Anisotremus interruptus
Cortez Grunt, Haemulon flaviguttatum
Elongate Grunt, Haemulopsis elongatus
Graybar Grunt, Haemulon sexfasciatum
Humpback Grunt, Orthopristis chalceus
Latin Grunt, Haemulon steindachneri
Longfin Salema, Xenichthys xanti
Panamic Grunt, Rhencus panamensis
Panamic Porkfish
Anisotremus taeniatus
Raucous Grunt, Haemulopsis leuciscus
Salema, Haemulon californiensis
Sand Grunt, Rhonciscus branickii
Shining Grunt, Haemulopsis nitidus
Silvergray Grunt, Anisotremus caesius
Spottail Grunt, Haemulon maculicauda
The Grunt or Haemulidae Family has one hundred and thirty-seven global species that have been placed in nineteen genera. Many are difficult to differentiate. There are forty-six grunts in Mexican waters, twenty in the Atlantic Ocean and twenty-six in the Pacific Ocean. There are twenty-three grunts found in the Sea of Cortez. They are known in Mexico’s fishing areas as burros. They are similar in appearance to snappers but can be distinguished by their lack of canine and vomerine teeth and by the presence of pits on their chins. When collected, these fish grunt audibly by rubbing together tooth plates in their throats.
Most Grunts are small schooling fish that swarm over reefs during the day and move to sandy shoals at night. They have oblong or elongated oval bodies of varying depths. I have included the depth as a percentage of standard length, which varies from 30% to 50%, for each Grunt included in this website. This can be used as an important parameter to aid in the identification of unknown fish. The majority of Grunts caught by hook and line are less than 30 cm (12 inches) in length and less than 500 grams (1 lb) in weight. They feed primarily at night on benthic invertebrates such as shrimp, clams, and polychaete worms. The stripes of juveniles are more prominent than those of adults. In general, the Grunts, are poorly studied with very limited information available about their lifestyle and behavioral patterns including specific details on age, growth, longevity, movement patterns, diet, habitat use, and reproduction.
Many of the grunts are hard to differentiate. In Mexican fishing waters, there are reports that as many as twenty-five different kinds of Grunts residing in the Sea of Cortez alone. The table below is a first step in narrowing the possibilities.
