Rank Species | Phylum Chordata | |
 | ||
Similar Leiopotherapon, Bidyanus bidyanus, Terapontidae, Bony bream, Sooty grunter | ||
The spangled grunter or spangled perch (Leiopotherapon unicolor) is a species of fish in the family Terapontidae. It is endemic to Australia.
Contents
Description
This fish reaches a maximum length of 31 to 33 centimeters. Male and female look similar. The fish is blue to gray with a silvery shine, and has reddish spots all over, except on the belly. The juvenile has a dark bar on the lower part of the tail.
Biology
This fish lives in fresh, brackish, and salt water. It also tolerates variable pH and temperature. It can be found in lakes, streams, and billabongs. It can live in very small collections of water, such as puddles and accumulations of rainwater in road ruts. During dry periods, it can likely live in wet mud by aestivating.
Its diet is mainly invertebrates such as insects, crustaceans, and molluscs, and it will also feed on fish, algae, and plants, including the fruit of the native white apple tree, Syzygium eucalyptoides, when it falls from this tree into creeks or billabongs.
The male guards and tends the eggs.
