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Painted Sweeplips (diagramma pictum) - Reef Reality Episode 45

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The painted sweetlips is a non-aggressive reef-dwelling fish that happily co-exists with other marine species.  Its colour changes dramatically between its larval stage and adulthood, and adult markings tend to vary depending on geographical region.  Unusually, the juveniles are solitary, while the adults live in pairs or groups.  They are nocturnal, hiding out in crevices and caves or under rocky ledges during the day, before venturing out at night to scavenge along the ocean floor.

Description

Juveniles are yellow or white with broad black bands across their bodies.  However, as they mature, their body colour changes to grey.  In some regions, such as Queensland, they are plain grey with a white belly, but most painted sweetlips have dark spots along the upperside of their body and on the dorsal and caudal fins. The body is rounded and fleshy, and the snout is rather like a parrot’s beak. They have a small mouth with thick lips.  The scales are small and ctenoid, which means that they have razor-like edges.

Regions & Habitat

Painted sweetlips are reef-dwellers, in tropical regions.  They are found mainly in the Indo-West Pacific area, from the Red Sea and East Africa to Japan, and south to New Caledonia.  Adults live in open silted or muddy substrates in sheltered bays and estuaries, on coral reefs or along shallow coastal shelves, at depths of up to 170m (500ft). Juveniles live in shallower waters along the reef, usually amongst clumps of weed.

Feeding and Behavior

The painted sweetlips is carnivorous, feeding on bottom-dwelling invertebrates and small fishes.  Although juvenile sweelips tend to live in isolation, adults are more sociable, living in pairs or small groups.  They are non-territorial and not aggressive, and different species of sweetlips will often mingle together happily.  During the daytime, they are usually to be found clustered together under sheltering outcrops, or in nooks and crannies along the reef, coming out at night to scavenge for food on the sea-bed.  Juveniles have a peculiar, undulating swimming motion, which is probably an attempt at camouflaging themselves as poisonous flatworms in order to fool would-be predators.

Vulnerability and Resilience

Vulnerability is moderate.  Resilience is medium, with minimum population doubling time being between 1.4 and 4.4 years.

Red List Status

The painted sweetlips has not been evaluated for inclusion on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

Threats

1)    Over-fishing – although there have been reports of ciguatera poisoning, the painted sweetlips is still being caught in large numbers, both commercially and as a game fish, which puts the species at risk through depletion of numbers. Additionally, some fishermen use dynamite to catch them, which can kill large numbers of fish at once, and also causes damage to the reef.

2)    Habitat Destruction – the coral reef is a very vulnerable habitat, which is constantly under threat from pollution, sedimentation, excessive algal blooming, damage from boats and tourism, climate change and severe tropical storms.  All of these contribute to destroying areas of reef, which can be very slow to recover.  Marine creatures that depend on the reef eco-system are also threatened.

How to help

1)    Take a stand against off-shore oil drilling, which can allow oil to spill into the oceans.

2)    Be aware of your carbon footprint.  Reducing your consumption of fossil fuels will help to prevent global warming.

3)    CLICK HERE for 40 Marine Conservation Tips - How YOU can Make a Difference!