Largescale Grunter, Terapon theraps Cuvier 1829
Other Names: Banded Grunter, Banded Trumpeter, Flagtail Grunter, Flagtail Trumpeter, Large-scaled Grunter-perch, Northern Grunter, Spiky Trumpeter
Juvenile Largescale Grunters, Terapon theraps, sheltering under a boat at the Cobia Hole, Lizard Island, Great Barrier Reef, Queensland. Source: Anne Hoggett / Lizard Island Field Guide, http://lifg.australianmuseum.net.au/. License: CC by Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
Summary:
A dusly-green grunter with an iridescent sheen becoming silver-white below, with four broad dusky to blackish stripes along the side, a large black blotch on the dorsal fin, and dark stripes on the tail. Juveniles are brown with darker stripes, regularly-spaced white spots along the pale areas between the dark stripes, and a striped tail.
Video of juvenile Largescale Grunters hunting through floating mangrove leaf litter in the Cairns City marina, in North Queensland, Australia.
Video of juvenile Largescale Grunters hunting through floating mangrove leaf litter in the Cairns City marina, in North Queensland, Australia.
Cite this page as:
Bray, D.J. 2016, Terapon theraps in Fishes of Australia, accessed 08 Dec 2024, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/home/species/2527
Largescale Grunter, Terapon theraps Cuvier 1829
More Info
Distribution |
Exmouth Gulf, Western Australia, to northern New South Wales. Elsewhere the species is widespread in the tropical, Indo-west Pacific. Adults often in brackish habitats, including amongst mangroves. Juveniles often shelter beneath floating algae and debris, especially Sargassum, and may be seen far offshore |
Features |
Dorsal fin XI-XII, 9-11; Anal fin III, 7-9. Body oval, compressed, robust; lower opercular spine extending well beyond opercular flap; post-temporal bone serrate, exposed posteriorly. |
Colour |
Dusky green above, white below with an iridescent sheen. Four longitudinal brown stripes extend on the upper side from the head. A large prominent black blotch is on the distal end of the spinous portion of the dorsal fin. Similar brown stripes run across the caudal fin. |
Feeding |
Omnivore. |
Species Citation |
Therapon theraps Cuvier in Cuvier & Valenciennes 1829, Histoire Naturelle des Poissons 3: 129. Type localities: Indian seas (as 'Mer des Indes'), Java, Indonesia. |
Author |
Bray, D.J. 2016 |
Resources |
Largescale Grunter, Terapon theraps Cuvier 1829
References
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Allen, G.R., Steene, R.C. & Orchard, M. 2007. Fishes of Christmas Island. Christmas Island : Christmas Island Natural History Association 2 edn, 284 pp.
Allen, G.R. & Swainston, R. 1988. The Marine Fishes of North-Western Australia. A field guide for anglers and divers. Perth, WA : Western Australian Museum vi 201 pp., 70 pls.
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Cuvier, G.L. in Cuvier, G.L. & Valenciennes, A. 1829. Histoire Naturelle des Poissons. Paris : Levrault Vol. 3 500 pp., pls 41-71.
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Hutchins, B. 2004. Fishes of the Dampier Archipelago, Western Australia. Records of the Western Australian Museum, Supplement 66: 343–398
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Ramm, D.C., Pender, P.J., Willing, R.S. & Buckworth, R.C.1990. Large-scale spatial patterns of abundance within the assemblage of fish caught by prawn trawlers in Northern Australian waters. Aust. J. Mar. Freshwat. Res. 41(1): 79-95.
Randall, J.E., Allen, G.R. & Steene, R. 1997. Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea. Bathurst : Crawford House Press 557 pp. figs.
Richardson, J. 1842. Contributions to the ichthyology of Australia. Annals and Magazine of Natural History ns 9(56): 120-131 (as Therapon rubricatus)
Russell, B.C. & Houston, W. 1989. Offshore fishes of the Arafura Sea. The Beagle, Records of the Museums and Art Galleries of the Northern Territory 6(1): 69-84.
Sainsbury, K.J., Kailola, P.J. & Leyland, G.G. 1984. Continental Shelf Fishes of Northern and North-Western Australia. Canberra : Fisheries Information Service 375 pp. figs & pls.
Vari, R.P. 1978. The terapon perches (Percoidei, Terapontidae) a cladistic analysis and taxonomic revision. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 159(5): 175-340 figs 1-94
Vari, R.P. 2001. Family Terapontidae. pp. 3305-3316 in Carpenter, K.E. & Niem, V.H. (eds) The Living Marine Resources of the Western Central Pacific. FAO Species Identification Guide for Fisheries Purposes. Rome : FAO Vol. 5 2791-3379 pp.
Whitley, G.P. 1943. Ichthyological notes and illustrations. Part 2. The Australian Zoologist 10(2): 167-187 figs 1-10 (as Eutherapon theraps)