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The Grunts

BODY oblong, more or less elevated, covered with moderate-sized scales which are adherent and more or less strongly ctenoid or almost cycloid; lateral line well developed, concurrent with the back, usually not extending on the caudal fin; head large, the crests of the skull usually largely developed; mouth large or small, usually low, horizontal, and terminal; premaxillaries protractile; no supplemental maxillary bone; teeth all pointed, none of them forming marked canines; no teeth on vomer, palatines, or tongue; pseudobranchiae large; gill-membranes separate, free from the isthmus; opercle without spines; side of head usually scaly; dorsal fin continuous or deeply notched, sometimes divided into 2 fins, the spines usually strong, depressible in a groove, the spines heteracanthous, that is, alternating, the one stronger on the right side, the other on the left; anal similar to soft dorsal, with 3 spines; caudal usually more or less concave behind; air-bladder present.