Painted sweetlips

The painted sweetlips (Diagramma pictum), also known as the Australian slatey, blackall, bluey, grey sweetlips, moke, morwong, mother-in-law fish, painted blubber-lips, slate bream, slate sweetlips, smokey bream, thicklip or yellowdot sweetlips is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a sweetlips belonging to the family Haemulidae. It is widespread throughout the tropical waters of the Indo-West Pacific region.

Habitat

The painted sweetlips is found solitarily or in groups, frequently in turbid water. Its habitat can encompass open muddy, sandy or silty substrates in protected bays or estuaries, around rock outcrops, shipwrecks and rubble. It can also occur in shallow coastal waters and on coral reefs. The juveniles prefer weedy habitats. They feed on benthic invertebrates and smaller fishes. The males and females form distinct pairs when spawning. It is found as deep as 80 m (260 ft) and is most common over silty substrates.

Distribution

The painted sweetlips has a wide Indo-Pacific distribution. Its range extends from the eastern coast of Africa from the Red Sea to KwaZulu-Natal eastwards as far as Fiji and north to Japan. It is not found in Australia and is mostly absent from the southern coast of New Guinea.