Harlequin Sweetlip

Plectorhinchus chaetodonoides

Bislamatiklips— names this kind of animal, not this species alone

commonblackwhitespottedsolitarylargereef

Habitat: Reef
Max size: 72 cm
Depth: 1-30 m
Family: Haemulidae

Plectorhinchus chaetodonoides, the harlequin sweetlips, clown sweetlips, spotted sweetlips or many-spotted sweetlips, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a sweetlips belonging to the subfamily Plectorhinchinae, one of two subfamilies in the family Haemulidae, the grunts. It is native to the Indo-Pacific region. This species is of minor importance to local commercial fisheries and can be found in the aquarium trade.

Adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Easily confused with

Side by side, with what tells them apart.

The young look nothing alike -- the harlequin is brown with big cream blotches, the painted black above and white below -- but the adults are often confused: both are pale grey with dark spots. Harlequin Sweetlip is deeper-bodied and its spots are large, wider than the iris. Painted Sweetlip is more slender, covered in smaller spots, and has a dark brown to blackish dorsal fin with large black spots.

See the Painted Sweetlip →

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