Wednesday 22 May
In the News: Nature health check finds UK wildlife to be in trouble

What’s the World’s Favourite Species?
Find out here.| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Class | Actinopterygii |
| Order | Perciformes |
| Family | Serranidae |
| Genus | Epinephelus (1) |
This robust marine fish owes its name predominately to the distinctive colouration of the juveniles rather than the adults. Juvenile striped groupers are lavender-grey, shading to white below, with two broad, longitudinal, white bands edged in black. The bands begin either side of the eye and extend respectively to the rear of the spiny dorsal fin and the lower part of the caudal fin. However, with age the white bands fade away, while the black edges break into dashes and spots, and in the largest adults eventually vanish, such that the head and body become uniformly grey. In both adults and juveniles, the dorsal fin and the caudal fin are marked with conspicuous black spots and streaks (2) (3) (4).
Other than its habitat preferences, very little has been reported on the biology of the striped grouper, but like other Epinephelus species, it is probably a protogynous hermaphrodite, meaning that individuals begin mature life as female and change sex later to become male (1) (2) (3). Epinephelus species tend to be voracious predators, with fish and crustaceans taken near the sea bottom forming the bulk of prey (2) (5).
TopThe striped grouper has an Indo-West Pacific distribution including the Red Sea, the Arabian Gulf, the Gulf of Oman, and coastal waters of Pakistan, India, Vietnam, Hong Kong, China, Korea, southern Japan, Taiwan, and northwest Australia. Notably, it is not known from the east coast of Africa, the Indian Ocean islands, Indonesia, Philippines, or New Guinea (1) (2).
TopThis bottom dwelling species prefers coarse-sand or rocky areas from depths of 20 to at least 230 metres, while juveniles are typically found on silty-sand and mud bottoms (1) (2).
TopClassified as Data Deficient (DD) on the IUCN Red List (1).
TopAlthough the striped grouper appears in catches of long-line and trawl fisheries, and is common in markets of Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore and the Arabian Gulf, there is currently no catch data for this species. Without quantitative data, there is little means of assessing the impact of commercial fishing on this species. As a result, the striped grouper is currently listed as Data Deficient on the IUCN Red List (1).
TopMonitoring of relevant fisheries is essential for determining the conservation status of the striped grouper. It is possible that it may occur in some marine protected areas that fall within its range (1).
TopFor further information on the conservation of groupers see:
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:
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This species is featured in Jewels of the UAE, which showcases biodiversity found in the United Arab Emirates in association with the Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi.
Image credit
© John E. Randall
Dr. John E. Randall
jackr@hawaii.rr.com
http://fishbase.sinica.edu.tw/photos/HI_Reef_Shore_Fishes.pdf
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