Haemulidae

Haemulidae is a family of fishes in the order Perciformes known commonly as grunts. It is made up of the two subfamilies Haemulinae (grunts) and Plectorhynchinae (sweetlips), which contain about 133 species in 19 genera around the world. These fishes are commonly found in tropical, subtropical, and warm temperate regions, inhabiting marine, brackish, and sometimes fresh waters.

The family shows many feeding adaptations from bottom-feeding predation to water-column planktivory and is named for the ability of Haemulinae to produce sounds by grinding their pharyngeal teeth. Some species engage in mutualistic relationships with cleaner gobies of the genus Elacatinus, allowing them to feed on ectoparasites on their bodies.