Yellow Lined Sweetlips

The Yellow Lined Sweetlips is one of the largest species in the Plectorhinchus genus, with adults capable of reaching a formidable 35 inches in length. This massive sweetlips displays a distinctive adult pattern of bold yellow to golden horizontal lines running across a grey to brownish body, with the characteristic enlarged, fleshy lips that are a hallmark of the genus. Juveniles undergo the dramatic transformation common to sweetlips, starting with dark bodies marked by contrasting white patches that gradually evolve into the yellow-lined adult pattern over several years of growth.

In the wild, Plectorhinchus albovittatus has a broad distribution across the Indo-Pacific, from the Red Sea and East African coast through the Indian Ocean to the Western Pacific. Adults are found on coral reef slopes and lagoons, typically at depths of 5 to 25 meters, where they form small groups that shelter in caves and under overhangs during the day. Like other sweetlips, they are nocturnal foragers, venturing out after dark to hunt crustaceans, worms, and benthic invertebrates across the reef and sandy bottom.

In the aquarium, the Yellow Lined Sweetlips represents perhaps the ultimate challenge among sweetlips species. Not only does it share the notorious feeding difficulties of the genus, but its enormous adult size requires an aquarium of at least 400 gallons. The combination of extreme feeding reluctance, sensitivity to water quality, susceptibility to stress-related diseases, and massive space requirements makes this species suitable only for the most experienced and well-resourced expert aquarists.