Smallmouth grunt

As you might guess, the grunt family is named for a sound that they produce.  This sound begins with teeth grinding deep inside the throat, and is then amplified by the air bladder.  They certainly don't grunt all the time. I don't think that I have ever heard it.

Several species of grunt occur in Bonaire.  The smallmouth grunt is one of the 2 most abundant grunt species, here. During the day, we often see large numbers of them milling around in reef shadows.  Most of the ones we encounter are between 6 and 8 inches, but we also see juvenile stages that are much smaller (about 2 inches), often in shallow water over fire coral reefs.