The brownspotted grouper (''Epinephelus chlorostigma''), also known as the brown spotted reef cod, brown-spotted rockcod, coral grouper or honeycomb cod, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a grouper from the

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end subfamily botanical names with "-oideae", and zoologi ...

Epinephelinae which is part of the family Serranidae, which also includes the

anthias Anthias are members of the family Serranidae and make up the subfamily Anthiinae. Anthias make up a sizeable portion of the population of pink, orange, and yellow reef fishes seen swarming in most coral reef photography and film. The name Anthi ...

and sea basses. It has an

Indo-Pacific The Indo-Pacific is a vast biogeographic region of Earth. In a narrow sense, sometimes known as the Indo-West Pacific or Indo-Pacific Asia, it comprises the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean, the western and central Pacific Ocean, and the ...

distribution but in the northern Indian Ocean this distribution is discontinuous. It forms part of a species complex with two closely related species in the genus ''

Epinephelus ''Epinephelus'' is a genus of marine ray-finned fish, groupers from the subfamily Epinephelinae, part of the family Serranidae, which also includes the anthias and sea basses. They are predatory fish, largely associated with reefs and are found i ...

''.

Description

The brownspotted grouper has a body which has a

standard length Fish measurement is the measuring of individual fish and various parts of their anatomies. These data are used in many areas of ichthyology, including taxonomy and fisheries biology. Overall length * Standard length (SL) is the length of a fish m ...

which is 2.8 to 3.3 times its depth. The preopercle is slightly angular and has 4 to 7 enlarged serrations at the angle. The upper margin of the gill cover is straight. The dorsal fin has 11 spines and 16-18 soft rays while the

anal fin Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as se ...

contains 3 spines and 8 soft rays. The caudal fin varies from truncate to slightly emarginate. The

pelvic fin Pelvic fins or ventral fins are paired fins located on the ventral surface of fish. The paired pelvic fins are homologous to the hindlimbs of tetrapods. Structure and function Structure In actinopterygians, the pelvic fin consists of two en ...

s are slightly shorter than the pectoral fins. The

lateral line The lateral line, also called the lateral line organ (LLO), is a system of sensory organs found in fish, used to detect movement, vibration, and pressure gradients in the surrounding water. The sensory ability is achieved via modified epithelial ...

has 48-53 scales. This is a pale species of grouper which is covered in a dense pattern of small brown spots apart from the lower part of the head, chest and lower abdomen which lack spotting. They can sometimes temporarily show large dark spots which overlay the normal body pattern. The maximum recorded total length attained is , although a more common length is , and the maximum published weight is .

Distribution

The brownspotted grouper has an Indo-Pacific range which extends from the Red Sea and the eastern coast of Africa, as far south as

KwaZulu-Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN and known as "the garden province") is a province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu) and Natal Province were merged. It is locate ...

in South Africa, to the Western Pacific Ocean where it extends north to southern Japan south to

New Caledonia ) , anthem = "" , image_map = New Caledonia on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , map_alt = Location of New Caledonia , map_caption = Location of New Caledonia , mapsize = 290px , subdivision_type = Sovereign st ...

and east to American Samoa and Fiji. There are gaps in this distribution and there are no confirmed records from the

Comoros The Comoros,, ' officially the Union of the Comoros,; ar, الاتحاد القمري ' is an independent country made up of three islands in southeastern Africa, located at the northern end of the Mozambique Channel in the Indian Ocean. It ...

, the

continental shelf A continental shelf is a portion of a continent that is submerged under an area of relatively shallow water, known as a shelf sea. Much of these shelves were exposed by drops in sea level during glacial periods. The shelf surrounding an island ...

between Oman and Cambodia, the East Indies, Taiwan and mainland Australia. The claims of this species from the Persian Gulf are considered to be misidentifications of '' Epinephelus polylepis''. In Australia this species is found only around offshore reefs off north western Australia in Western Australia and the Northern Territory. A single specimen was reported in 2015 in the Mediterranean Sea off Israel.

Habitat and biology

The brownspotted grouper occurs over a wide range of habitats such as seagrass beds and outer reef slopes, as well as over mud bottoms. It is a solitary species which is a predator on small fishes and crustaceans, mainly stomatopods and

crab Crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura, which typically have a very short projecting "tail" (abdomen) ( el, βραχύς , translit=brachys = short, / = tail), usually hidden entirely under the thorax. They live in all the ...

s. This species is a protogynous hermaphrodite and the change in sex from female to male takes place between , although not all of the females undergo this change. The adults form spawning aggregations.

Parasites

As other fish, the ''Epinephelus cholorostigme'' has many parasites, including nematodes in its intestine, such as '' Cucullanus epinepheli'', and several species of monogeneans on its gills, including '' Pseudorhabdosynochus cyanopodus'', ''

Pseudorhabdosynochus epinepheli ''Pseudorhabdosynochus epinepheli'' is a diplectanid monogenean parasitic on the gills of species of groupers. It is the type species of the genus '' Pseudorhabdosynochus'' Yamaguti, 1958. Description ''Pseudorhabdosynochus epinepheli'' is a ...

'', '' Pseudorhabdosynochus podocyanus'', '' Pseudorhabdosynochus stigmosus'', '' Pseudorhabdosynochus exoticoides'' and the

digenea Digenea (Gr. ''Dis'' – double, ''Genos'' – race) is a class of trematodes in the Platyhelminthes phylum, consisting of parasitic flatworms (known as ''flukes'') with a syncytial tegument and, usually, two suckers, one ventral and one oral. ...

n ''Neidhartia lochepintade'' in its intestine. This parasite species was named for the

n name of the fish, "loche pintade".

Taxonomy

The brownspotted grouper was first formally described as ''Serranus chlorostigma'' in 1828 by the

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

zoologist

Achille Valenciennes Achille Valenciennes (9 August 1794 – 13 April 1865) was a French zoologist. Valenciennes was born in Paris, and studied under Georges Cuvier. His study of parasitic worms in humans made an important contribution to the study of parasitology. ...

(1794-1865) with the type locality given as the Seychelles. ''E. chlorostigma'' is a member of a species complex comprising three species which are characterised by having a truncate or emarginate caudal fin, a body covered in dense spotting apart from their underparts, a slightly angular preopercle with slightly enlarged serrations at the angle, a straight upper edge to the gill cover and a similar count of gill rakers. The three species are ''E. chlorostigma'', '' E. gabriellae'' and ''E. polylepsis''. The fish in the Red Sea, northwestern Indian Ocean and the

Gulf of Aden The Gulf of Aden ( ar, خليج عدن, so, Gacanka Cadmeed 𐒅𐒖𐒐𐒕𐒌 𐒋𐒖𐒆𐒗𐒒) is a deepwater gulf of the Indian Ocean between Yemen to the north, the Arabian Sea to the east, Djibouti to the west, and the Guardafui Channe ...

are separated by some authorities as the valid species, ''Epinephelus geoffroyi''. It is this species which has been recorded in the Mediterranean Sea having entered it via the

Suez Canal The Suez Canal ( arz, قَنَاةُ ٱلسُّوَيْسِ, ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia. The long canal is a popular ...

from the Red Sea as a

Lessepsian migrant The Lessepsian migration (also called Erythrean invasion) is the migration of marine species across the Suez Canal, usually from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea, and more rarely in the opposite direction. When the canal was completed in 18 ...

Utilisation

The brownspotted grouper is targeted by fisheries throughout its distribution.

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q2419299 Fish of Thailand brown-spotted grouper Fish described in 1828