About Haemulon melanurum (Linnaeus, 1758)
Haemulon melanurum, commonly known as the cottonwick grunt, is a species of ray-finned fish that belongs to the family Haemulidae. This species lives in tropical waters of the western Atlantic, close to parts of North and South America. It can reach a maximum total length of 43.5 centimeters, though most individual cottonwick grunts are typically around 25 centimeters long. The maximum published weight recorded for the species is 550 grams. Adult cottonwick grunts are silver in color, with thin yellow stripes running along their bodies and a bronze stripe located in front of the eye. Adults also have a black stripe that extends from the start of the dorsal fins to the caudal fins. It is an oviparous schooling fish that feeds on crustaceans. The cottonwick grunt is distributed across most of the Caribbean and surrounding nearby areas, with its range stretching from northern Brazil to southeastern Florida and Veracruz, and also including southeastern Texas and Bermuda. It inhabits clear waters up to 50 meters deep, most often around reefs and the seagrass beds adjacent to reefs. It can also be found around shipwrecks that function as artificial reefs.
