Gulf grouper (Mycteroperca jordani)

Gulf grouper swimming above the sea floor
Gulf grouper swimming above the sea floor

Gulf grouper fact file

Gulf grouper description

KingdomAnimalia
PhylumChordata
ClassActinopterygii
OrderPerciformes
FamilySerranidae
GenusMycteroperca (1)

The largest member of its genus (3), the Gulf grouper is a robust reef fish, usually with a uniform dark brown or greyish body, but with the ability to change colour if disturbed or excited, rapidly assuming the juvenile patterning of large, dark blotches, and faint dark streaks radiating from the eye. The margins of the fins are white, and the front parts of the dorsal fin and anal fin bear small spines (2) (3) (4) (5). The rear edge of the long dorsal fin is rounded, and the tail fin is square-cut or slightly indented in adults, with a smooth rear edge (2) (4) (5).

Also known as
baya grouper.
Synonyms
Epinephelus jordani, Mycteroperca venadorum.
Spanish
Baya, Cabrilla De Astillero, Garlopa, Garropa, Mero Baya, Merou Golfe.
Size
Total length: up to 150 cm (2)
Weight
up to 91 kg (2)
Top

Gulf grouper biology

Although a large and highly prized grouper species, surprisingly little is known about the biology of the Gulf grouper, other than that large adults feed on fish, and may even take juvenile hammerhead sharks (1) (2) (3). Juvenile Gulf groupers may take invertebrates such as crustaceans (2). Like many other groupers, it is likely to have a slow growth rate, and to form spawning aggregations, coming together in large numbers at particular locations to breed (1). Gulf groupers are thought to reach maturity at six or seven years old (1). Like many other groupers, this species may possibly be a protogynous hermaphrodite, meaning that individuals start life as females, later changing sex to become male (2).

Top

Gulf grouper range

The Gulf grouper is found in the eastern central Pacific, from southern La Jolla, California, in the USA, to Mazatlan in Mexico (1) (2) (3) (4) (5). Only a few, large adults have been recorded in southern California, probably having travelled there from a more southerly breeding population (1) (3).

Top

Gulf grouper habitat

The Gulf grouper occurs on rocky reefs and in kelp beds, and has been recorded at depths of around 5 to 30 metres (1) (2). It is found in deeper waters during the summer, but moves into shallower areas during other months, probably due to changes in water temperature (3) (4) (5). The species is reported to often be found in underwater caves and large crevices in shallow water (3).

Top

Gulf grouper status

Classified as Endangered (EN) on the IUCN Red List (1).

IUCN Red List species status – Endangered

Top

Gulf grouper threats

The Gulf grouper’s large size has made it a popular target for recreational fishing and for local fisheries, and the species is also caught as bycatch by shrimp trawlers in the Gulf of California (1) (2). However, as with many groupers, the long life span, slow growth, late maturity and unusual life history of the Gulf grouper, together with its small geographical range and its tendency to come together in large spawning aggregations, all increase its vulnerability to overfishing (1) (6) (7) (8). The population of this once abundant fish is believed to have declined severely, more than halving in the last 30 years (1) (6) and, even more alarmingly, may have declined by over 99 percent since the 1940s (1). In the Gulf of Mexico, the sex ratio of the population is currently skewed, with significantly fewer males than females. Sadly, increased coastal development in the northern Gulf of California, and greater investment in recreational fisheries, look set to increase reef habitat destruction and intensify fishing pressure on the Gulf grouper in the future (1).

Top

Gulf grouper conservation

The Gulf grouper occurs in a few protected areas throughout its range, including within the Alto Golfo Biosphere Reserve, although enforcement in this area is lacking (1). There are no specific conservation measures known to be directly targeted at this large reef fish, although there have been calls to protect and manage the spawning aggregations of groupers and other reef fish (7) (8), a measure which may also help to protect this vulnerable species.

View information on this species at the UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre.

Top

Find out more

To find out more about the conservation of groupers see:

Top

Authentication

This information is awaiting authentication by a species expert, and will be updated as soon as possible. If you are able to help please contact:
arkive@wildscreen.org.uk

Top

Glossary

Anal fin
In fish, an unpaired fin on the under surface of a fish, behind the anus.
Bycatch
In the fishing industry, the part of the catch made up of non-target species.
Crustaceans
Diverse group of arthropods (a phylum of animals with jointed limbs and a hard chitinous exoskeleton) characterised by the possession of two pairs of antennae, one pair of mandibles (parts of the mouthparts used for handling and processing food) and two pairs of maxillae (appendages used in eating, which are located behind the mandibles). Includes crabs, lobsters, shrimps, slaters, woodlice and barnacles.
Dorsal fin
The unpaired fin found on the back of the body of fish, or the raised structure on the back of most cetaceans.
Genus
A category used in taxonomy, which is below ‘family’ and above ‘species’. A genus tends to contain species that have characteristics in common. The genus forms the first part of a ‘binomial’ Latin species name; the second part is the specific name.
Invertebrates
Animals with no backbone, such as insects, crustaceans, worms, molluscs, spiders, cnidarians (jellyfish, corals, sea anemones), echinoderms, and others.
Protogynous hermaphrodite
An animal that begins its life cycle as a female. As the animal ages, based on internal or external triggers, it shifts sex to become a male animal.
Spawning
The production or depositing of large quantities of eggs in water.
Top

References

  1. IUCN Red List (June, 2010)
    http://www.iucnredlist.org/
  2. Heemstra, P.C. and Randall, J.E. (1993) FAO Species Catalogue. Volume 16. Groupers of the World (Family Serranidae, Subfamily Epinephelinae). An Annotated and Illustrated Catalogue of the Grouper, Rockcod, Hind, Coral Grouper, and Lyretail Species Known to Date. FAO Fisheries Synopsis No. 125, Vol. 16. Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, Rome. Available at:
    ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/009/t0540e/T0540E00.pdf
  3. Thomson, D.A., Findley, L.T. and Kerstitch, A.N. (2000) Reef Fishes of the Sea of Cortez: The Rocky-Shore Fishes of the Gulf of California. Revised Edition. University of Texas Press, Austin, Texas.
  4. Eschmeyer, W.N., Herald, O.W., Mammann, H. and Gnagy, J. (1983) A Field Guide to Pacific Coast Fishes of North America. Houghton Mifflin Company, New York.
  5. Allen, G.R. and Robertson, D.R. (1994) Fishes of the Tropical Eastern Pacific. University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu, Hawaii.
  6. Sáenz-Arroyo, A., Roberts, C.M., Torre, J. and Cariño-Olvera, M. (2005) Using fishers’ anecdotes, naturalists’ observations and grey literature to reassess marine species at risk: the case of the Gulf grouper in the Gulf of California, Mexico. Fish and Fisheries, 6: 121-133.
  7. IUCN/SSC Groupers and Wrasses Specialist Group (June, 2010)
    http://www.hku.hk/ecology/GroupersWrasses/iucnsg/
  8. Society for the Conservation of Reef Fish Aggregations (June, 2010)
    http://www.scrfa.org/

More »Related species

Comb grouper (Mycteroperca rubra)Yellowmouth grouper (Mycteroperca interstitialis)Black grouper (Mycteroperca bonaci)Leopard grouper (Mycteroperca rosacea)Yellowfin grouper (Mycteroperca venenosa)Sailfin grouper (Mycteroperca olfax)Comb grouper (Mycteroperca fusca)White-blotched grouper (Epinephelus multinotatus)

Please donate to ARKive today

Help us share the wonders of the natural world. Donate today!

Sign up to our newsletter

Get the latest wild news direct to your inbox.

Get involved

ARKive relies on its media donors to donate photos and videos. Can you help? There are plenty of other ways you can get involved too!

X
Close

Image credit

Gulf grouper swimming above the sea floor  
Gulf grouper swimming above the sea floor

© Daniel W Gotshall / SeaPics.com

SeaPics.com
SeaPics.com Inc.
77-6344 Halawai Place
Kailua Kona
HI
96740
USA
info@seapics.com
http://www.seapics.com

X
Close

Link to this photo

ARKive species - Gulf grouper (Mycteroperca jordani) Embed this ARKive thumbnail link by copying and pasting the code below.

Terms of Use - The displayed thumbnail may be used as a link from your website to ARKive's online content for private, scientific, conservation or educational purposes only. It may NOT be used within Apps.

Read more about

X
Close

MyARKive

MyARKive offers the scrapbook feature to signed-up members, allowing you to organize your favourite ARKive images and videos and share them with friends.

X
Close

Terms and Conditions of Use of Materials

Copyright in this website and materials contained on this website (Material) belongs to Wildscreen or its licensors.

Visitors to this website (End Users) are entitled to:

  • view the contents of, and Material on, the website;
  • download and retain copies of the Material on their personal systems in digital form in low resolution for their own personal use;
  • teachers, lecturers and students may incorporate the Material in their educational material (including, but not limited to, their lesson plans, presentations, worksheets and projects) in hard copy and digital format for use within a registered educational establishment, provided that the integrity of the Material is maintained and that copyright ownership and authorship is appropriately acknowledged by the End User.

End Users shall not copy or otherwise extract, alter or manipulate Material other than as permitted in these Terms and Conditions of Use of Materials.

Additional use of flagged material

Green flagged material 

Certain Material on this website (Licence 4 Material) displays a green flag next to the Material and is available for not-for-profit conservation or educational use. This material may be used by End Users, who are individuals or organisations that are in our opinion not-for-profit, for their not-for-profit conservation or not-for-profit educational purposes. Low resolution, watermarked images may be copied from this website by such End Users for such purposes. If you require high resolution or non-watermarked versions of the Material, please contact Wildscreen with details of your proposed use.

Creative commons material

Certain Material on this website has been licensed to Wildscreen under a Creative Commons Licence. These images are clearly marked with the Creative Commons buttons and may be used by End Users only in the way allowed by the specific Creative Commons Licence under which they have been submitted. Please see http://creativecommons.org for details.

Any other use

Please contact the copyright owners directly (copyright and contact details are shown for each media item) to negotiate terms and conditions for any use of Material other than those expressly permitted above. Please note that many of the contributors to ARKive are commercial operators and may request a fee for such use.

Save as permitted above, no person or organisation is permitted to incorporate any copyright material from this website into any other work or publication in any format (this includes but is not limited to: websites, Apps, CDs, DVDs, intranets, extranets, signage, digital communications or on printed materials for external or other distribution). Use of the Material for promotional, administrative or for-profit purposes is not permitted.