Haemulon plumierii

Habitat and distribution

The white grunt is found near mangroves, reefs, docks, and nearly any sort of structure in its range, which extends in the Western Atlantic from Chesapeake Bay through the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico south to Brazil. It normally lives in depths similar to that of its relative, the bluestriped grunt, from 0 to 30 m in depth.

This fish is closely related to the bluestriped grunt (H. sciurus) and the French grunt (H. flavolineatum). The white grunt is often seen schooling with those species. This sound is normally made when the fish is distressed or in danger, such as when being caught by an angler.

Description

The white grunt is a silvery cream color with numerous yellow and blue horizontal stripes present across the body.

Diet

Although the natural diet of this fish largely consists of shrimp, they also feed upon annelids, crustaceans, and bivalves. Largely opportunistic, anglers have caught them on the whole spectrum of natural and artificial baits.

Predators

Large species of predatory fish such as barracuda and shark feed upon white grunts, as they are abundant and school in fairly large numbers. Other piscivorous fish such as groupers and snappers also eat H. plumieri.

Systematics

H. plumierii was first formally described in 1801 as Labrus plumierii by French naturalist Bernard German de Lacépède (1756-1825), with the type locality given as Martinique. The specific name honours the Franciscan friar and naturalist Charles Plumier (1664–1704), Lacépède based his description of this species on a drawing by Plumier.

Human uses

The white grunt has minor importance on the commercial scale, but is somewhat popular with children and beginners as game fish, and even experienced fishermen. Grunts are easy to catch and have white meat that cooks well, so they are sometimes caught to be eaten. A historic Florida dish, "grits and grunts", is traditionally prepared with H. plumieri. They also have bait value for large piscivorous fish. These fish also have high value as aquarium fish, due to their bright colors.

References

References

1. Lindeman, K.. (2016). "''Haemulon plumierii''".
2. {{Fishbase. Haemulon. plumerii. (2019)
3. "White Grunt". South Atlantic Fishery Management Council.
4. "White Grunt". Florida Museum of Natural History.
5. "White Grunt: Haemulon plumieri". Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
6. "White Grunt".
7. {{Cof genus
8. (5 January 2021). "Order LUTJANIFORMES: Families HAEMULIDAE and LUTJANIDAE". Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara.
9. Davidson, Buck. "White Grunt". Southern Charm SportFishing.