A large dark grouper with a rectangular blotch pattern, hanging over the reef edge and moving off before a diver gets close.
To about 150 cm and, on the higher of two conflicting figures, over 160 kg. Common at about 70 cm. Grey to dark brown with seven or eight columns of rectangular dark blotches on the upper body, or close-set brassy spots separated by a bluish-white network. The dorsal, anal and tail fins carry dark outer edges, the tail with a thin white line outside that.
Two fish to rule out. The yellowfin grouper has the outer third of the pectoral fin abruptly yellow, where this fish’s pectoral is dark with only a pale edge. The gag has a distinct notch or lobe on the rear edge of the gill cover, where this fish’s is evenly rounded.
Usually solitary. It forms spawning aggregations, documented in Bermuda and identified elsewhere in the Caribbean, though no named site-and-date closure for this species was found. Females become males at between 85 and 125 cm and around fifteen years, which is late enough that fishing pressure removes the males first. Juveniles use mangroves and estuaries.
Listed as Near Threatened. Florida sets a 24 inch minimum and an Atlantic season of 1 May to 31 December. Ciguatera is reported from it.
Ratings are per location: 1 means found on most dives that look for it, 5 means a handful of records. Where enough dives have been logged the figure is calculated from them; otherwise it is an editorial estimate, and says so. We publish habitat and destination, not the dive site.
