Fish Identification Photos: White Grunt, Haemulon plumieri: The White Grunt is silvery white to cream color with a bronze head. A key to identification is a series of dark blue stripes with yellow-bronze edges on the head. The White Grunt has a moderately elongated body with an elevated compressed back. It has a long head with a sharp snout. The caudal fin is forked and there are long pectoral fins.

The fins of the White Grunt are yellowish-white. There is a black spot on top of the gill cover and the inside of the mouth is red.

The White Grunt can quickly change colors to match its surroundings. The White Grunt is found in large schools on the outer reef edge to depths of 80 feet and occasionally off shore over hard bottoms to depths of 115 feet. It reaches 17 inches in length and 5.5 pounds in weight.

The White Grunt is a nocturnal carnivore feeding on benthic crustaceans, mollusks, echinoderms and small fishes. In turn it is preyed upon by snappers, groupers, mackerel and sharks.

In Mexican Waters the White Grunt is found throughout the Gulf of Mexico on the Atlantic coast. It is of minor commercial importance and a recreational game fish that is considered to be a high quality food fish.

Normally caught by conventional fishing methods, i.e., hook-and-line and nets, in Haiti it is harvested with dynamite!

The White Grunt is a member of Haemulidae Family, made up of grunts known in Mexico as "burros."

White Grunt, Haemulon plumieri: A commercially caught fish, courtesy of the Soriana’s Mercado, Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur, Mexico. Purchased in May 2008. Size, approximately 18 cm. Identification courtesy of H.J. Walker, Jr., Scripps Institute of Oceanography, La Jolla, Calif. Description and photo courtesy of John Snow.