Raucous Grunt, Haemulopsis leuciscus

Raucous Grunt, Haemulopsis leuciscus, Juvenile. Fish provided by the commercial bait salesmen of Puerto Los Cabos, Baja California Sur, December 2020. Length: 10.5 cm (4.1 inches).

Raucous Grunt, Haemulopsis leuciscus. Fish caught from coastal waters off Puerto Adolfo Lopez Mateos, Baja California Sur, May 2018. Length: 22.5 cm (8.9 inches).

Raucous Grunt, Haemulopsis leuciscus. Fish caught from coastal waters off Mazatlán, Sinaloa, October 2021. Length: 28 cm (11 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Bart, The Netherlands  (worldangler.eu).

Raucous Grunt, Haemulopsis leuciscus. Fish caught from within the estuary of the northern portion of the Magdalena Bay complex, Baja California Sur, November 2022. Length: 30 cm (12 inches). Catch and photograph courtesy of Jonathan Wexler, Denver, Colorado.

Raucous Grunt, Haemulopsis leuciscus. Fish caught off the beach at Todos Santos, Baja California Sur, July 2008. Length: 40 cm (16 inches).

Raucous Grunt, Haemulopsis leuciscus. Fish provided by the commercial bait salesmen of Puerto Los Cabos,  Baja California Sur, May 2021. Length: 43 cm (17 inches).

The Raucous Grunt, Haemulopsis leuciscus, is a member of the Grunt or Haemulidae Family, that is also known as the White Grunt and in Mexico as ronco ruco and roncador. There are five global members of the Haemulopsis Genus of which four are found in Mexican waters, all in the Pacific Ocean.

The Raucous Grunt has an oblong body with a depth that is 32% to 34% of standard length. They have an overall silver appearance and a straight ventral profile. Their fins are dusky with the exception of their pelvic fins, which are yellow. Their head features an apparent “bump” above their eyes. They have a short snout (11 to 12% of standard length) and their mouth ends before their eyes. The outside edge of their upper gill cover and their pectoral fin base are black. Their anal fin has 3 spines, the third is longer than the second, and 7 or 8 rays; their dorsal fin in continuous with a notch and 12 spines and 14 rays; and, their pectoral fins are short. They have 9 to 14 lower gill rakers. They are covered with small scales.

The Raucous Grunt is found over sandy and muddy bottoms at depths up to 134 m (440 feet). They reach a maximum of 41 cm (16 inches) in length. As of January 1, 2023, the International Game Fish Association world record stood at 0.59 kg (1 lb 5 oz) with the fish caught from coastal waters off Mazatlán, Sinaloa, in June 1999. They are nocturnal carnivores feeding on benthic crustaceans, echinoderms, and small fish and mollusks. The Raucous Grunt is 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.

The Raucous Grunt is a resident of all Mexican waters of the Pacific Ocean with the exception that they are absent from north of Magdalena Bay, Baja California Sur, along the central and northwest coasts of Baja.

The Raucous Grunt is difficult to identify as it is very similar in appearance to the Elongate Grunt, Haemulopsis elongatus (straight head profile, snout 10 to 11% of standard length), the Shining Grunt, Haemulopsis nitidus (very short second anal spine; black blotch behind operculum) and the Yellowstripe Grunt, Haemulopsis axillaris (third anal spine longer than second; snout 6 to 7% of standard length).

From a conservation perspective the Raucous Grunt is currently considered to be of Least Concern with stable, widely distributed populations. The are not abundant or of significant interest to most but are viewed as good table fare when available. They can be caught off the beaches of the southwest Baja during the warm water months.