Author: (Cuvier, 1829)
Terapon pluta (Cuvier, 1829)
Status in World Register of Marine Species:
Accepted name: Terapon puta Cuvier, 1829 (updated 2009-06-25)
Diagnosis: body elongate, moderately deep, compressed. Opercular flap with a prominent lobe projecting backward to the end of lower opercular spine, the posterior margin of projecting lobe concave; 2 opercular spines, the lower strong and very long, projecting beyond edge of bony opercle. Post-temporal exposed, strongly serrate along posterior edge. Gill membrane free from isthmus. Jaws equal, gape horizontal; front row of teeth enlarged, conical, inner teeth in bands, villiform. Gillrakers 18-24 lower, 7-9 upper. D Xl-XII + 9-11, penultimate spine much shorter than ultimate; A III + 8-9. Lateral line scales 70-85. Vertebrae 25. Colour: 4 prominent longitudinal stripes, the middle one continuous to the posterior edge of caudal fin. Size: to 15 cm SL, usually 5-12.
Habitat: common in Bardawil Lagoon within salinity range of 40-100 promille, and temperatures of 12-32° C (Ben-Tuvia, 1979). Food: small invertebrates. Reproduction: summer months.
Distribution: recorded only from hypersaline Bardawil Lagoon (Mediterranean, coast of Sinai) (Ben-Tuvia, 1977). A Suez Canal immigrant, distributed widely in Indo-Pacific from Red Sea and coast of Africa north of Zanzibar to Philippines and Australia.
Eggs, larvae and young stages. No data.
Otoliths (sagitta). No data.