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Bream

Fish · Least Concern

Bream

Monotaxis grandoculis

About

The humpnose big-eye bream (Monotaxis grandoculis) is a ray-finned fish in the emperor family Lethrinidae, a group commonly called emperors and emperor breams. The species carries a long list of common names, among them bigeye bream, bigeye emperor and roundtooth large-eye bream, all of which highlight its conspicuously large eyes. It is a widespread inhabitant of the Indian and Pacific Oceans.

Family
Lethrinidae
Avg size
40-60 cm
Habitat
This bream is broadly distributed across the Indo-Pacific. Its range begins at the Red Sea and the East African coast, extending south to South Africa and east across the Indian Ocean, though it does not occur in the Persian Gulf. In the Pacific it reaches as far as the Hawaiian Islands, north to southern Japan and south to Australia, where it is found from offshore reefs of Western Australia across to Queensland and New South Wales, with juveniles straying as far south as Sydney.
Behaviour
Humpnose big-eye breams are usually seen alone, although larger adults sometimes gather into schools of up to about 50 fish. They feed on bottom-dwelling invertebrates and small fishes. The species is also known to host several parasites, including the flukes Haliotrema angulocirrus and Proctoeces hawaiiensis.

Where & when

Where & When to See It

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