Blubberlip

Plectorhinchus gibbosus has fleshy lips which become grossly swollen with age, it has 6 pores on its chin but has no median pit. The dorsal fin contains 14 spines and 15–16 soft rays while the anal fin has 3 spines and 7–8 soft rays. The overall colour is silvery-grey to brownish with dark edges to the scales, a dusky face, a thin dark bar on the anterior of the operculum which has a black rear margin. The soft rayed part of the dorsal fin, anal fin and caudal fin are dusky. The juveniles are brownish in colour with a pink or transparent caudal fin and mimic fallen leaves by drifting with the body oriented with their sides parallel to the surface. This species attains a maximum total length of 75 cm (30 in).

Plectorhinchus gibbosus has a wide Indo-Pacific distribution. It is found along the eastern coast of Africa from Kenya to South Africa and along the southern coast of Asia into the Pacific as far east as Polynesia, north as far as the Ryukyu Islands of southern Japan and south to Australia. In Australia its range extends from the Ningaloo Reef in Western Australia along the northern coasts and south on the eastern coast as far as Flinders Island in Tasmania, as well as Lord Howe Island and Norfolk Island in the Tasman Sea. It is also found off the Indian Ocean islands of Socotra, Seychelles, Madagascar and the western Mascarenes.