Malabar grouper  (Epinephelus malabaricus)

Classified as Near Threatened (NT) on the IUCN Red List 2007 (1).

The Malabar grouper is a robust marine fish, with a brownish head and long body. The body is covered with small blackish-brown spots, which increase in number with age, and scattered whitish spots and blotches (2) (3). Five irregular dark brown bars are often visible on the body (3).

Occurs in the Indo-Pacific; from the Red Sea to Tonga, north to Japan and south to Australia (1).

The Malabar grouper occurs in a range of habitats, including coral and rocky reefs, estuaries, mangrove swamps and over sandy and muddy bottoms, from the shore to depths of 150 metres (3)

The Malabar grouper has a fascinating and complex life-history. It is a protogynous hermaphrodite, meaning that individuals first function sexually as females and then later, at least some of the mature females change to males (1). The Malabar grouper feeds on fishes and crustaceans and occasionally on octopuses (3).

The Malabar grouper is one of the most important groupers in commercial and recreational fisheries in the Indo-Pacific region. Because of confusion with similar Epinephelus species, there is little data regarding the extent of its exploitation (3). However, it is believed that fishing has reduced the global population of this species (1). The Malabar grouper is also captured for the live fish trade, and juveniles are caught for “mariculture grow-out”, whereby the wild juveniles are put in cages and grown until they reach a saleable size (1). In addition, habitat loss places additional pressure on populations of the Malabar grouper. In south-east Asia, the area of mangrove swamps has declined drastically and a large proportion of reefs are threatened by human activities (1). These human impacts include poor land management practices that are releasing more sediment, nutrients and pollutants into the oceans and stressing the fragile reef ecosystem. Over fishing has ‘knock-on' effects that results in the increase of macro-algae that can out-compete and smother corals, and fishing using destructive methods physically devastates the reef. A further potential threat is the increase of coral bleaching events, as a result of global climate change (4).

The Queensland Fisheries Service has recreational catch limits for Epinephelus species (1), but elsewhere there are not known to be any fisheries regulations in place for the Malabar grouper. It is likely to occur in many Marine Protected Areas within its range, although not all of these are carefully managed and legislation is not always enforced (1). The Malabar grouper can also be maricultured (1), which may lessen the pressure on wild populations.

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