Name: Jarbua Terapon
Local name: Zamror Zeep
Scientific name: Terapon jarbua
Classification: Class: ray-finned fishes; Order: perch-likes; Family: grunters (Teraponidae)
Size: It commonly grows to about 25 cm with a maximum length of 33 cm.
Habitat:
The Jarbua Terapon occurs over shallow sandy bottoms down to about 20 m depth. Adults form loose aggregations. Juveniles are commonly found in sandy intertidal areas and often in tidal pools. This species is omnivorous, feeding on fishes, algae, and benthic invertebrates, but is also known to bite scales from other fish. Eggs are guarded and fanned by the male parent.
Distribution:
This species has a wide-ranging distribution in the tropical Indo-Pacific, from the Red Sea and East Africa to Samoa, north to Japan, and south to Australia.
Conservation status:
The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species classifies the Jarbua Terapon as Least Concern (LC) in both the global assessment and the regional assessment for the Arabian Gulf. It is caught with beach seines, traps, handlines, and gillnets, and usually marketed fresh.
Description:
This species has a moderately elongate and compressed body, and a small mouth, with the upper jaw not reaching posterior to the center of the eye. The lower opercular spine is very large, extending beyond edge of opercular membrane. The dorsal fin has a deep notch between the spinous and soft portions, and the caudal fin is emarginated. Head and body are silvery grey dorsally and silvery white ventrally, with three broad, down-curved, dark brown to black stripes on the body. Each lobe of the caudal fin has a black tip and a broad black band. There is a large black spot in the anterior part of the dorsal fin, followed by two or three blackish spots further behind.
