HAEMULIDAE Pomadasys kaakan, 31.5 cm SL (photo by Seishi Kimura) Pomadasys kaakan (Cuvier, 1830) Javelin Grunt D XII, 13-15; A III, 7-8; P1 17-18; P2 I, 5; LLp 43-50; GR 5-6 + 13-14. Body moderately elongate, compressed. Chin with two pores and a median pit. Caudal fin emarginate. Color: body silver with six to ten vertical series of blackish spots or double spots in four rows, third row along lateral line; spots less distinct with growth. No blotches or spots on fins. Size: maximum length about 80 cm. Distribution: widely distributed in the Indo-West Pacific, from east coast of Africa to Taiwan and northern Australia. Remarks: inhabiting turbid inshore waters with sandy to muddy bottoms to depths of 75 m. Penetrating rivers to the upper limit of brackish water. (Hiroyuki Motomura)