''Epinephelus ongus'', the white-streaked grouper, specklefin grouper, lace-finned rock-cod, specklefin rockcod, wavy-lined tock-cod, white-speckled grouper or white-spotted rock-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 a wide

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 and it is found in brackish waters as well as marine reefs.

Description

''Epinephelus ongus'' 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 ...

that is 2.7 to 3.2 times as long as it is deep. The dorsal profile of the head is moderately convex, while the area between the eyes is flat. The preopercle is rounded and the serrations on its edge are largely clothed in skin. The upper edge of the gill cover is notably convex. The dorsal fin contains 11 spines and 14-16 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 ...

has 3 spines and 8 soft rays. The caudal fin varies from convex to slightly rounded. The overall colour of this species is brown marked with large white blotches and many smaller pale spots on its head, body and fins which elongate and form streaks in the larger fish. The median fins have a dark submarginal band. The juveniles are dark brown with a pattern of white spots covering their bodies and fins. The spots often form wavy lines and there is a faint dark maxillary streak. This species attains a maximum published total length of . File:Speckledfin grouper (Epinephelus ongus) (46727118371).jpg File:White-streaked grouper Night coloration (Epinephelus ongus) (30770597317).jpg File:White-streaked Grouper (Epinephelus ongus) (8503553018).jpg

Distribution

''Epinephelus ongus'' has a wide Indo-Pacific distribution. It is found in the east African coast from Somalia to South Africa and Madagascar. It is then found in the Seychelles and the Maldives and southern India and Sri Lanka along the coasts of Thailand and Malaysia east into the Pacific Ocean as far as

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and Tonga. They are found as far north as the Ryukyu Islands and Ogasawara Islands in southern Japan and south to Australia. In Australia it is found around the offshore reefs of Western Australia, off

Arnhem Land Arnhem Land is a historical region of the Northern Territory of Australia, with the term still in use. It is located in the north-eastern corner of the territory and is around from the territory capital, Darwin. In 1623, Dutch East India Compan ...

in the Northern Territory and the Great Barrier Reef off Queensland.

Habitat and biology

''Epinephelus ongus'' is found on inner coastal and lagoon reefs, as well as in brackish waters where it can be found in ledges and caves, at depths between . Adults are normally found in deeper water than juveniles. The main prey of this species are crustaceans and small fishes. Off Okinawa this species is associated with branching corals such as ''

Acropora ''Acropora'' is a genus of small polyp stony coral in the phylum Cnidaria. Some of its species are known as table coral, elkhorn coral, and staghorn coral. Over 149 species are described. ''Acropora'' species are some of the major reef corals r ...

''. It is likelyto be a protogynous hermaphrodite, with half of the fish changing sex at a total length of and 7 years of age. They have been reported to form spawning aggregations and, off Olinanwa, these were formed over a sand and rubble seabed in the vicinity of a pass between areas of reed and fish moved to spawn here form an average distance of . Groupers, as other fish, have usually a number of parasites. Not much is known about the parasitological fauna of the white-streaked grouper. In

, it has a diplectanid monogenean on its gills, '' Pseudorhabdosynochus quadratus'', which is specific to it. Other endoparasites known from this species are '' Lepidapedoides angustus'' and '' Pearsonellum corventum'', both

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. ...

ns.

Taxonomy

''Epinephelus ongus'' was first formally described as ''Holocentrus ongus'' in 1790 by the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

medical doctor A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

and naturalist Marcus Elieser Bloch (1723-1799) with the type locality given as Japan but this is thought to be an error and should be Java. Its closest relative appears to '' Epinephelus summana'' which is restricted to the Red Sea where ''E. ongus'' is absent.

Utilisation

''Epinephelus ongus'' is an uncommon species but which is targeted by commercial fisheries in parts of its range. It is caught using hook and line,

gillnet Gillnetting is a fishing method that uses gillnets: vertical panels of netting that hang from a line with regularly spaced floaters that hold the line on the surface of the water. The floats are sometimes called "corks" and the line with corks is ...

s, spears and traps and it is found in the live reef food fish trade in south-east Asia.

References

External links

* http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=218217
Fishes of Australia : ''Epinephelus ongus''
* {{Taxonbar, from=Q1000266 white-streaked grouper Marine fish of Northern Australia white-streaked grouper