Sandperch

The sandperches are a family, Pinguipedidae, of fishes in the order Perciformes. Sandperches typically live on sand or rubble substrates in shallow seas. The anterior end of the fish is cylindrical and the posterior end partially flattened. The eyes are on the top of the head and the fish lie on the seabed, propped up by their widely separated pelvic fins. Several members of the large genus Parapercis, perhaps all, are sequential hermaphrodites, starting their adult lives as females and later becoming males, often with significantly different colourings and markings.