A small grouper covered in close-packed dark hexagons; one of the commonest fish on rubble.
To about 31 cm, pale cream covered in close-packed dark brown hexagonal spots separated by narrow pale lines, giving the honeycomb effect, with the spots merging into short bars on the lower body. Several small Epinephelus share this ground and pattern; the tight, evenly sized hexagons and the absence of pale spots between them place this one, though a photograph is often needed.
It rests on rubble and dead coral in shallow water and takes small fish and crustaceans in short ambushes. It is among the most numerous groupers here and is easy to approach — it holds position until a diver is well inside a metre and then moves a short distance and settles again. Recorded from about 1 to 30 m.
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.
