The mottled grouper (''Mycteroperca rubra'') is a species of marine

ray-finned fish Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fishes, is a class of bony fish. They comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species. The ray-finned fishes are so called because their fins are webs of skin supported by bony or h ...

, a grouper from the subfamily Epinephelinae which is part of the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Serranidae, which also includes the anthias and sea basses. It is found in the eastern Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea.

Description

The mottled grouper has an oblong, compressed body which has a depth which is less than the length of its head, its standard length is 2.8 to 3.2 times its depth. The preopercle has a serrated margin with the serrations being enlarged at its angle, where there is a rounded lobe below an incision into the margin. The dorsal fin contains 11 spines and 15-17 soft rays while the anal fin contains 3 spines and 11-12 soft rays. The

caudal 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 ...

is truncate in juveniles and subadults but it is concave in adults with a standard length of more than . They are usually reddish brown in colour, often mottled with black or pale grey spots and having a black streak above the upper jaw. The juveniles have a black saddle blotch on the caudal peduncle. This species has a maximum published

total 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 ...

of , although a more common total length is , while the maximum published weight is .

Distribution

The mottle grouper is found in the eastern Atlantic Ocean and parts of the Mediterranean Sea. In the eastern Atlantic, it is found from southern Portugal and Spain, along the western coast of Africa as far south as Angola. It was formerly found in the southern Mediterranean from southern Spain and Morocco to Egypt and Israel but it has been expanding its range and is now found as far north as

Provence Provence (, , , , ; oc, Provença or ''Prouvènço'' , ) is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which extends from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the Italian border to the east; it is bor ...

in France and the

Adriatic Sea The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) to t ...

. It is absent from the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Rom ...

and records from the Macaronesian Islands are misidentifications of Island grouper (''Mycteroperca fusca'') and records from Brazil are similarly misidentifications of the comb grouper '' M. acutirostris''.

Habitat and biology

The mottled grouper is a demersal species which occurs over rocky reefs and adjacent sandy substrates as deep as . It tens to be commoner at shallower depths from in the eastern Mediterranean. It readily takes to

artificial reef An artificial reef is a human-created underwater structure, typically built to promote marine life in areas with a generally featureless bottom, to control erosion, block ship passage, block the use of trawling nets, or improve surfing. Many ...

s such as shipwrecks off

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

. Juveniles are usually found in shallower inshore waters. It feeds on molluscs and small fishes. It is a

protogynous hermaphrodite Sequential hermaphroditism (called dichogamy in botany) is a type of hermaphroditism that occurs in many fish, gastropods, and plants. Sequential hermaphroditism occurs when the individual changes its sex at some point in its life. In particular, ...

, the transition from female to male happens when they are nine years oold and have attained a total length of . The females reach sexual maturity at a total length of about around four and five years of age.

Spawning Spawn is the eggs and sperm released or deposited into water by aquatic animals. As a verb, ''to spawn'' refers to the process of releasing the eggs and sperm, and the act of both sexes is called spawning. Most aquatic animals, except for aquat ...

aggregations have been recorded off Israel, Senegal, Turkey and Corsica.

Parasites

As most fish, the mottled grouper harbours a variety of

parasites Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The entomologist E. O. Wilson ha ...

. These include the diplectanid

monogenea Monogeneans are a group of ectoparasitic flatworms commonly found on the skin, gills, or fins of fish. They have a direct lifecycle and do not require an intermediate host. Adults are hermaphrodites, meaning they have both male and female repro ...

n ''

Pseudorhabdosynochus regius ''Pseudorhabdosynochus regius'' is a diplectanid monogenean parasitic on the gills of the mottled grouper (''Mycteroperca rubra''). Description ''Pseudorhabdosynochus regius'' is a small monogenean, about 600-1300 µm in length. The sp ...

'' on the gills and the philometrid nematode '' Philometra inexpectatata'' in the gonad.

Taxonomy

The mottled grouper was first formally described in 1793 as ''Epinephelus ruber'' by the German naturalist

Marcus Elieser Bloch Marcus Elieser Bloch (1723–1799) was a German physician and naturalist who is best known for his contribution to ichthyology through his multi-volume catalog of plates illustrating the fishes of the world. Brought up in a Hebrew-speaking Jewish ...

(1723-1799) with the type locality given as "Japan", probably an error for Europe or the Mediterranean.

Utilisation

The mottled grouper is not caught commercially because of its scarcity in the Mediterranean but is more commonly caught off Africa.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q988322 Mycteroperca Fish of Europe Fish of Israel Fish described in 1793 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot