|
(Click for large pic. 21Kb)
The Grass Sweetlip is commonly line-fished along the entire Queensland coast-line and is of particular importance in angling catches of the Tin Can Bay area. It is remarkable for the number and variety of different local names applied to it.
The younger fish are often captured in mangrove creeks and over beds of eel-grass as they grow, they move out to reef grounds. It is usually olive-green to fawn-grey above and paler below, the body with mottled and ill-defined patches of olive-brown which become less distinct after death. The dark olive-brown head has a pattern of bright blue lines which radiate from the eye to form irregular spots over the snout. The inside of the mouth is scarlet. The fins are olive-pink, intensifying to reddish-pink in the soft dorsal, with irregular reddish wavy lines or bars. The pectoral and ventral fins are edged with blue.
The Grass Sweetlip grows to 560 mm, but is more usually taken at about 330-350 mm It is a very good food-fish.
Season: all year - November
|
)
