Brownspotted grouper (Epinephelus chlorostigma)

Scientific name: Epinephelus chlorostigma Valenciennes, 1828

Brownspotted grouper (Epinephelus chlorostigma)

The Brownspotted grouper (Epinephelus chlorostigma) is a marine fish of the family Serranidae.

Biology

Found over a wide range of habitats like seagrass beds and outer reef slopes; in the South China Sea, it is also found on mud bottoms. Feeds on small fishes and crustaceans (mainly stomatopods and crabs). Sexual transition from female to male occurs between 35-45 cm, but not all females change sex. Forms spawning aggregations. E. chlorostigma is closely related and very similar to E. polylepis and E. gabriellae which seem to replace it in the northwestern Indian Ocean.

Source: FishBase, licensed CC BY-NC 4.0.

Species facts

Scientific name
Epinephelus chlorostigma
Family
Serranidae (Sea basses: groupers and fairy basslets)
Order
Perciformes (Perch-like fish)
Class
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned fishes)
Maximum length
75.0
Common length
50.0
Depth range
4–300 m (13–984 ft)
Environment
Marine; reef-associated; non-migratory; depth range 4 - 300 m
Climate
Tropical
Distribution
Indo-Pacific: Red Sea to Natal, South Africa and eastward to the western Pacific, north to southern Japan, south to New Caledonia. Records from Persian Gulf are apparently misidentifications of Epinephelus polylepis. Not verified from the Comoros, continental shelf between Oman and Cambodia, Taiwan, Philippines, Indonesia, and Australia.
Conservation status (IUCN)
Least Concern (LC)
Threat to humans
Harmless
Uses
Fisheries: commercial
Resilience
Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (K=0.17-0.19; tmax=29)

Sources

Taxonomy, distribution and biology data: FishBase (Froese, R. and D. Pauly, eds.), licensed CC BY-NC 4.0.

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