Lethrinus nebulosus

Description

This species is commonly found at approximately 87 cm in length, but grows to 70 cm.^{[clarification needed]} It is yellow to yellowish-brown or bronze in colour, the belly being lighter. It has scattered blue markings over the body. The cheeks have no scales and may have a vertical blue markings. It has whitish or yellowish fins with a yellowish-edged dorsal fin.

Distribution

This fish occurs in the waters of East Africa to the southern parts of Japan. It also lives in Australian coastal waters, and has been recorded in the Red Sea, Persian Gulf and New Caledonia, where it is one of the major commercial fish.

Habitat

Lethrinus nebulosus inhabits both marine and brackish waters at depths of between 10 and 75 metres. It is a non-migratory species, and is found on coral and rocky reefs, seagrass beds, mangrove swamps, as well as over sandy substrates. Juveniles may be found in large schools.

Diet

This species feeds mainly on mollusks, echinoderms, and crustaceans. It also eats polychaetes and other fish, but less commonly.

As food

Lethrinus nebulosus is sought after by recreational fishers and is considered to be delicious.

Parasites

As most fish, Lethrinus nebulosus is the host of many species of parasites. Monogeneans parasitic on the gills include the diplectanids Calydiscoides difficilis, Calydiscoides duplicostatus and Calydiscoides terpsichore, an ancyrocephalid, and an unidentified polyopisthocotylean. The pharyngeal teeth harbour a species of the capsalid monogenean Encotyllabe which is specialised to this special habitat. Copepods parasitic on the gills include three species of the hatschekiid Hatschekia including Hatschekia gracilis. The digestive tract harbours the opecoelid Macvicaria macassarensis and the zoogonid Diphterostomum tropicum. In New Caledonia, where its parasites were studied, Lethrinus nebulosus has a total of eleven species of parasites.

Synonyms