Bigeye grunt facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Bigeye grunt |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Genus: |
Brachydeuterus
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| Species: |
auritus
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| Range of Brachydeuterus auritus | |
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The bigeye grunt (Brachydeuterus auritus) is a type of fish that lives in the ocean. It's a ray-finned fish, which means its fins are supported by bony spines. This fish belongs to the Haemulidae family, also known as grunts. You can find it along the Atlantic coast of Africa.
What Does It Look Like?
The bigeye grunt has a body that is a bit flat from side to side. It has a really big eye and a snout that's shorter than its eye. Its mouth is large and can stick out.
Its top fin, called the dorsal fin, has a deep notch in it. This fin has 10 to 13 sharp spines. The third spine is usually the longest. The fin underneath, called the anal fin, has 3 spines and 9 or 10 soft rays. The tail fin is deeply forked, like a "V" shape.
The fish's back is a greenish-brown color. Its sides and belly are shiny silver or white. It often has a dark spot on the top edge of its gill cover. Sometimes, there are small dark spots at the base of its dorsal fin, but not always. This fish can grow up to 30 centimeters (about 12 inches) long. However, it's more common to see them around 23 centimeters (about 9 inches).
Where Does It Live?
The bigeye grunt lives in the eastern Atlantic Ocean. You can find it along the western coast of Africa. Its range stretches from Morocco all the way down to Angola. It's most common in the waters south of Senegal.
Its Home and Habits
This fish lives in the ocean at depths between 10 and 150 meters (about 33 to 490 feet). It likes to live on sandy or muddy parts of the ocean floor. At night, it swims up closer to the surface to find food.
The bigeye grunt eats small fish and other tiny ocean creatures like invertebrates. It can lay eggs, a process called spawning, throughout the year. Male bigeye grunts become ready to reproduce when they are about 8 months old. Females are ready at around 12 months. Sometimes, there are two main times of the year when they spawn a lot. This often happens when ocean currents bring cold, nutrient-rich water to the surface, a process called upwelling.
How We Use It
The bigeye grunt is a very important fish for people in many parts of West Africa. Countries like Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire catch a lot of them. Fishermen use different methods to catch them, such as nets that drag along the bottom (bottom trawls) or nets that hang in the water (gill nets).
Once caught, these fish are sold in different ways. They can be sold fresh, smoked, or even processed into fish meal. Fish meal is used as food for other animals. Sometimes, the bigeye grunt's meat is mixed with cassava to make fish crackers!
