Lethrinus rubrioperculatus, the spotcheek emperor, red-eared emperor, red-ears, red-edged emperor, scarlet-cheek emperor, and spot cheek emperor, is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Lethrinidae, the emperors or emperor breams. This species has a wide Indo-Pacific distribution.
Description Lethrinus rubrioperculatus grows to and is brown or olive-grey in colour. It has small, scattered blotches that are irregular in chape. The Body depth 2.94 to 3.18 times in standard length. Body color is olive-gray or brown, with scattered irregular small black blotches. There is normally a red spot present on the top edge of the operculum. The lips are normally red. The fins are pinkish or pale in colour.
Distribution Lethrinus rubrioperculatus is found in numerous locations, including East African waters, southern Japan and Taiwan, the Marquesas Islands, New CaledoniaLaboute, P. & Grandperrin, R. (2000). Poissons de Nouvelle-Calédonie. Nouméa, New Caledonia: Éditions Catherine Ledru.Fricke, R., Kulbicki, M. & Wantiez, L. 2011: Checklist of the fishes of New Caledonia, and their distribution in the Southwest Pacific Ocean (Pisces). Stuttgarter Beitraege zur Naturkunde Serie A (Biologie), 4, 341–463. and the northern half of Australia.
Habitat Lethrinus rubrioperculatus lives over sandy bottoms, in areas where rubble is present, and along the slopes of outer reefs. Although reef-associated, Lethrinus rubrioperculatus also occurs at depths of up to 160 metres, much deeper than most other species in this genus. This species is non-migratory.
Diet Lethrinus rubrioperculatus eats mostly crustaceans, mollusks, echinoderms, and other fishes.
Human uses Lethrinus rubrioperculatus is caught commercially.
Parasites
Lethrinus rubrioperculatus, as in most fish, is the host of many species of parasites.Justine, J.-L., Beveridge, I., Boxshall, G. A., Bray, R. A., Moravec, F. & Whittington, I. D. 2010: An annotated list of fish parasites (Copepoda, Monogenea, Digenea, Cestoda and Nematoda) collected from Emperors and Emperor Bream (Lethrinidae) in New Caledonia further highlights parasite biodiversity estimates on coral reef fish. Zootaxa, 2691, 1-40. Open-Access PDF Monogeneans parasitic on the gills include the diplectanid Calydiscoides euzeti,Justine, J.-L. 2007: Species of Calydiscoides Young, 1969 (Monogenea: Diplectanidae) from lethrinid fishes, with the redescription of all of the type-specimens and the description of C. euzeti n. sp. from Lethrinus rubrioperculatus and L. xanthochilus off New Caledonia. Systematic Parasitology, 67, 187-209. the ancyrocephalids Lethrinitrema gibbus and Lethrinitrema dossenusLim, L. H. S. & Justine, J.-L. 2011: Two new species of ancyrocephalid monogeneans from Lethrinus rubrioperculatus Sato (Perciformes: Lethrinidae) off New Caledonia, with the proposal of Lethrinitrema n. g. Systematic Parasitology, 78, 123-128. and several capsalids. Copepods parasitic on the gills include the caligid Caligus lethrinicolaBoxshall, G. A. & El-Rashidy, H. H. 2009: A review of the Caligus productus species group, with the description of a new species, new synonymies and supplementary descriptions. Zootaxa, 2271, 1-26. and the lernanthropid Sagum vespertilio. The gills also harbour unidentified gnathiid isopod larvae. The digestive tract harbours an unidentified Acanthocephala, unidentified tetraphyllid cestodes, species of the anisakid nematode Raphidascaris (Ichthyascaris),Moravec, F. & Justine, J.-L. 2012: Raphidascaris (Ichthyascaris) etelidis n. sp (Nematoda, Anisakidae), a new ascaridoid nematode from lutjanid fishes off New Caledonia. Zoosystema, 34, 113-121. and a variety of digeneans, including the acanthocolpid Stephanostomum aaravi,Bray, R. A. & Justine, J.-L. 2011: Acanthocolpidae (Digenea) of marine fishes off New Caledonia, with the descriptions of two new species. Folia Parasitologica, 58, 35-47. the hemiurid Lecithochirium sp. and Tubulovesicula angusticauda, the opecoelid Pseudoplagioporus interruptus and three other opecoelids. The abdominal cavity contains two species of larval tetrarhynch cestodes, the otobothriid Otobothrium parvum and the tentaculariid Nybelinia goreensis. In New Caledonia, where its parasites were particularly studied, Lethrinus rubrioperculatus has a total of twenty species of parasites.
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