blackspotted grunt
Plectorhinchus gaterinus (Forsskål, 1775)
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Blackspotted rubberlip (Plectorhinchus gaterinus), Zanzibar, Tanzania. This species attains typically a total length of 50 centimetres (20 in). It's found in the Western Indian Ocean. It's found at depths of 5–55 metres (16–180 ft) on coastal reefs, sand banks and in the vicinity of estuaries along the eastern coast of Africa from KwaZulu Natal north into the Red Sea as far north as the Gulf of Aqaba. Note: there is no FPs on Commons of the genus Plectorhinchus and only one of the family Haemulidae.
Diego Delso · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
Plectorhinchus gaterinus, commonly known as the blackspotted rubberlip or African grunt, 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 found in the western Indian Ocean.
Wikipedia contributors, Plectorhinchus gaterinus; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T07:22:22.436650+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Plectorhinchus gaterinus (Forsskål, 1775)
- Name authority
- (Forsskål, 1775)
- Common name
- blackspotted grunt
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Family
- Haemulidae
- Genus
- Plectorhinchus
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Source habitat flags: Marine: yes · Freshwater: no · Terrestrial: no. These do not form a complete habitat description.
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- gigaclassActinopterygii
- superclassActinopteri
- classTeleostei
- familyHaemulidae Gill, 1885
- subfamilyPlectorhinchinae Jordan & Thompson, 1912
- genusPlectorhinchus Lacepède, 1801
- speciesPlectorhinchus gaterinus (Forsskål, 1775)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Plectorhinchus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Plectorhinchus ceylonensis (Smith, 1956) | HaemulidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Plectorhinchus chaetodonoides Lacepède, 1801 | HaemulidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Plectorhinchus chrysotaenia (Bleeker, 1855) | HaemulidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| dusky rubberlipsPlectorhinchus chubbi (Regan, 1919) | HaemulidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Plectorhinchus lessonii (Cuvier, 1830) | HaemulidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Plectorhinchus macrolepis (Boulenger, 1899) | HaemulidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Plectorhinchus macrospilus Satapoomin & Randall, 2000 | HaemulidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Plectorhinchus obscurus (Günther, 1872) | HaemulidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| zebra sweetlipsPlectorhinchus paulayi Steindachner, 1895 | HaemulidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Plectorhinchus pictus (Tortonese, 1936) | HaemulidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Plectorhinchus pica (Cuvier, 1828) | HaemulidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| barred rubberlipPlectorhinchus plagiodesmus Fowler, 1935 | HaemulidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Gaterin gaterinus (Forsskål, 1775) (Forsskål, 1775) | synonym |
| Plectorhynchus gaterinus (Forsskål, 1775) (Forsskål, 1775) | synonym |
| Plectorinchus gaterinus (Forsskål, 1775) (Forsskål, 1775) | synonym |
| Sciaena abumgaterin Forsskål, 1775 Forsskål, 1775 | synonym |
| Sciaena gaterina Forsskål, 1775 Forsskål, 1775 | synonym |
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=218552 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:4K3RB. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.