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| fishes text index | photo index |
| Phylum Chordata > Subphylum Vertebrate > fishes > Family Haemulidae |
| Harlequin
sweetlips Plectorhinchus chaetodonoides Family Haemulidae updated Sep 2020 Where seen? This delightful fish with cartoonish spots and which swims in frantic wiggles is sometimes seen on some of our shores. Divers also sometimes encounter it. Juveniles are seen in weedy areas, near reefs and seagrasses. Adults are seen near reefs in schools. Features: Juveniles about 10cm are brown with large round black-ringed white spots. Large rounded tail and other fins which are white edged. The juvenile is usually solitary. Adults to about 60cm, as they grow up, the brown areas break up, black spots develop in the white areas, the spots becoming smaller with age. |
 Pulau Sekudu,
Nov 11 |
 Pulau Sekudu, Nov 11 |
 Seen hiding in an empty shell. Chek Jawa, Dec 07 |
| Wiggly swimmer: Like some other young sweetlips
species, the juvenile Harlequin sweetlips typically
swims in a twisting motion. It usually swims head down in a typical 'drunken' dance, flip flopping all its large fins and tail rapidly
from side to side. Small ones are said to mimick poisonous flatworms. What does it eat? It eats small bottom-dwelling animals such as crustaceans, molluscs and other fishes. Human uses: The adult fish is eaten and small juveniles are harvested for the aquarium trade. |
| Harlequin sweetlips on Singapore shores |
On wildsingapore
flickr
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| Other sightings on Singapore shores |
 East Coast Park (B), Jun 21 Photro shared by Loh Kok Sheng on facebook. |
 Pulau Semakau, Oct 11 Photro shared by Marcus Ng on flickr. |
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