HAEMULIDAE Plectorhinchus vittatus, 16.6 cm SL (from North Sulawesi, Indonesia; photo by Seishi Kimura) Plectorhinchus vittatus (Linnaeus, 1758) Oriental Sweetlips D XII-XIV, 17-20; A III, 7-8; P1 17-18; P2 I, 5; LLp 55-65; GR 9-11 + 21-24. Body moderately elongate, compressed. Lip fleshy, greatly swollen with age. Chin with six pores; no median pit; not covering barbels or papillae. Caudal fin rounded in juveniles, truncate in adults. Color: body with blackish stripes in adults, upper stripes on body horizontally across nape, interorbital and snout. In juveniles body with connected blackish blotches and spots. Pectoral fin black in juveniles becoming yellowish in adults. Size: maximum length about 60 cm. Distribution: widely distributed in the Indo-West Pacific, from Mozambique east to the Samoa Islands, and southern Japan south to northern Australia. Remarks: occurs in coastal inshore waters near reefs. (Hiroyuki Motomura)