The butter hamlet (Hypoplectrus unicolor) belonging to the animal kingdom of class Actinopterygii, family Serranidae, and genus Hypoplectrus, is a type of fish. It is one of the 18 marine species of ray-finned fish, a type of sea bass, most of which are found in the Atlantic and Caribbean waters.
A favorite in the aquarium trade, the butter hamlet (Hypoplectrus unicolor) is widely distributed across the western Atlantic Ocean, the Caribbean Sea, and the Gulf of Mexico. This fish is found in shallow waters of depth ranging between 23-82 ft (7-25 m).
While the juveniles are found inhabiting the mangroves, the adult invertebrates live under the fringing reef, coral reefs, marine neritic, and marine intertidal ocean water.
They are found along the shores of Florida, Cuba, the United States, the Bahamas, and around several islands such as the Cayman, Turks and Caicos, and the Virgin Islands. Their diet includes crustaceans and small fish.
An adult butter hamlet's body is 5.1 in (13 cm) in length.
Unfortunately, only the physical description and some nominal facts about this fish have been studied in detail. Nonetheless, this vibrantly colored attractive fish with a prominent blue line around its eye leaves no head unturned.
Keep reading to know more interesting facts about butter hamlet! Check out Pacific salmon facts and tilefish facts to learn more.
Butter Hamlet Interesting Facts
What type of animal is a butter hamlet?
The butter hamlet (Hypoplectrus unicolor) is a type of marine species. It is one of the 18 species of genus Hypoplectrus that belongs to the family Serranidae.
What class of animal does a butter hamlet belong to?
The butter hamlet fish belongs to the animal kingdom of the class Actinopterygii.
How many butter hamlets are there in the world?
This fish is found in abundance and its population is increasing rapidly by the day. However, there is no concrete number to tell how many of these there are in the world.
Where does a butter hamlet live?
The butter hamlet (Hypoplectrus unicolor) is a native of the waters of the western Atlantic, the Caribbean Sea, and the Gulf of Mexico. It is found along the shores of Florida, Cuba, the United States, the Bahamas, and around several islands such as the Cayman, Turks and Caicos, and the Virgin Islands.
What is a butter hamlet's habitat?
This fish is known to live in shallow water with a depth ranging between 23-82 ft (7-25 m). Their habitat mainly includes fringing reef, coral reefs, marine neritic, and marine intertidal ocean water. Juveniles are found inhabiting mangroves.
Who do butter hamlets live with?
This species prefers living in solitude and has never been found to migrate. They hide under fringing reefs and coral reef bodies or under piers.
How long does a butter hamlet live?
Researchers are yet to find out the lifespan of this species.
How do they reproduce?
This fish possesses both male and female organs, like synchronous hermaphrodites. In other words, they can alter the male and female roles of spawning as all individuals contain eggs and sperm in them which helps them to carry out this type of reproduction. The juveniles need no maternal care and are found to inhabit mangroves.
What is their conservation status?
The International Union For Conservation Of Nature, or IUCN, has marked the conservation status of the butter hamlet (Hypoplectrus unicolor) as Least Concern. This is because they are found in abundance and multiply in large numbers by the hour.
They are found hiding under fringing reef bodies or piers for having several predators such as the Redlion fish and many other large marine species.
Butter Hamlet Fun Facts
What does a butter hamlet look like?
Apart from the physical description and some other nominal facts of a butter hamlet (Hypoplectrus unicolor), very little has been studied in detail. It has a compact body with a linear head and a small snout.
The edge of the preoperculum which is angular in shape has several serrations and spines. It has a continuous dorsal fin, long pelvic fins, and forked caudal fins.
The color of its body is grayish-white which becomes yellow in the later portion with a darker shade at the back. The caudal fin has a black mark that looks like a black saddle. The eye has a prominent blue line.
Two black dots are found on the snout. It has yellow-colored pelvic and pectoral fins and the head has blue lines all across it.
How cute are they?
It goes without saying that this fish indeed looks extremely beautiful. The yellow, gray shade with the prominent blue line around the eye makes it look very attractive. The small length makes it look cuter.
How do they communicate?
The communication styles of these fish are unknown as very little has been studied about them.
How big is a butter hamlet?
This fish is 5.1 in (13 cm) in length. A cory catfish is bigger in length than this fish.
How fast can a butter hamlet swim?
The speed at which this species can swim through water is unknown since researchers are yet to study this factor.
How much does a butter hamlet weigh?
Being extremely small in size, this fish can be thought of as a very light-weighted marine fish. However, no concrete number is assigned to its weight.
What are the male and female names of the species?
There are no names assigned to the male and female counterparts of this species.
What would you call a baby butter hamlet?
Baby butter hamlets are known as fry.
What do they eat?
The butter hamlet (Hypoplectrus unicolor) is a carnivorous marine animal that preys upon crustaceans and small fish.
Are they dangerous?
This fish is absolutely harmless to humans. It is extremely small in size and looks really attractive, like a yellow tang. This is the reason behind its popularity in the aquarium trade.
Would they make a good pet?
It is small in size with vibrant colors that make it look extremely attractive. Being low maintenance, you can absolutely consider having this animal as a pet.
Did you know...
The phases of the moon determine the spawning period of this fish.
The working of a powerful suction inside their mouth helps them to draw in their prey.
Why is it called butter hamlet?
The name 'butter hamlet' has been given to this fish for its color and the meaning that it carries. Most of the fish's body is yellow in color, giving it the name butter. Again, all the fishes of the genus Hypoplectrus are called 'hamlet' as they signify bad luck.
Where does the butter hamlet originate from?
The butter hamlet (Hypoplectrus unicolor) originated in the western Atlantic ocean, the Caribbean Sea, and the Gulf of Mexico and has never migrated to any other part of the world.
The shores of Florida, Cuba, the United States, Bahamas, and around several islands such as Cayman, Turks, and Caicos, and the Virgin Islands are inhabited by this fish since they prefer shallow waters of depth ranging between 23-82 ft (7-25 m).
Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly animal facts for everyone to discover! Learn more about some other fish including emperor angelfish fun facts or black grouper interesting facts for kids.
You can even occupy yourself at home by coloring in one of our free printable intricate fish coloring pages.
Second image by Ryan McMinds
