Indian Ocean oriental sweetlips

Oriental sweetlips in the Maldives.

The Oriental sweetlips ( Plectorhinchus vittatus ) lives in the Indo-Pacific from the coast of East Africa to Japan and Samoa.

Appearance

Juveniles of Oriental Sweetlips have a dark brown color with large cream-colored, yellow -rimmed spots. With a length of about 15 centimeters they turn around. The adult fish of silvery color with dark longitudinal stripes. The front part of the head and the fins are yellow. Dorsal, anal and pelvic fins are black dots. They are 55 inches long.

Behavior

Young fish are loners who live hidden among the coral. The adult fish live in small groups or large flocks. During the day they usually stay under table corals or other overhangs on and go out at night in search of food to benthic invertebrates to eat.