Atlantic goliath grouper
Epinephelus itajara
Barred Hamlet
Hypoplectrus puella
About
The barred hamlet is a small, solitary sea bass that shelters in reef crevices by day and hunts at dusk, sometimes tagging along with foraging parrotfish to snap up disturbed prey.
Also known as: bad lucks
- Length
- 15.2 cm
- Depth
- 3–17 m
How to tell it apart
Hamlets are notoriously hard to tell apart, since several similar barred species share these reefs. Its combination of bluish-brown pelvic fins with thin iridescent blue lines on the head is the pairing to check.
Appearance
Its body and head are deep and flattened from side to side, with a straight forehead and a short snout. The body is pale yellowish to tan, crossed by several dark brown vertical bars that vary in number and darkness between fish. Thin, iridescent blue lines often mark the head. Its large, noticeable pelvic fins range from yellow to dark bluish brown, and the tail fin is slightly forked. It grows up to about 15 cm long.
Habitat
It lives over rocky and coral reefs close to hiding places in the western central Atlantic, from Bermuda and the Bahamas through the Gulf of Mexico and across the Caribbean Sea. Divers usually see it between 3 and 17 m, and unlike other hamlets it can also turn up in murky water.
Did you know?
It sometimes follows feeding schools of striped parrotfish, snapping up prey the parrotfish stir up, and individuals that do this catch far more food than those hunting alone.
Log it in Into the Blue
Describe what you saw and we name it, then keep every species you find in your Oceandex.
