Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes) >
Perciformes (Perch-likes) >
Serranidae (Sea basses: groupers and fairy basslets) > Epinephelinae
Etymology: Epinephelus: Greek, epinephelos = cloudy (Ref. 45335).
Environment / Climate / Range
Ecology
Marine; reef-associated; depth range 9 - 300 m (Ref. 5222). Tropical; 15°N - 33°S, 23°E - 77°E (Ref. 5222)
Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 137 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 5213); common length : 70.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 5450); max. published weight: 55.0 kg (Ref. 40637)
Western Indian Ocean: Kenya to Knysna, South Africa and the Kerala coast of India; however, there are no records between Kenya and Durban, nor between Kenya and India. Record from Djibouti (Ref. 5450) is doubtful.
Along the South African coast, it occurs on rocky bottoms at depths of 9 to at least 55 m; off the coast of Kenya it occurs below the major thermocline at 125 to 200; also known from deep waters off the Kerala coast of India at 250 to 300 m. Occurrence off the coasts of Kenya and India appears to be an example of 'tropical submergence' by which temperate species are able to live at tropical latitudes only in the cooler deep-water zone.
Heemstra, P.C. and J.E. Randall, 1993. FAO Species Catalogue. Vol. 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. Rome: FAO. FAO Fish. Synop. 125(16):382 p.
IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 90363)
Threat to humans
Harmless
Human uses
Fisheries: commercial
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Estimates of some properties based on empirical models
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref.
82805): PD
50 = 0.5000 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00000 (0.00000 - 0.00000), b=0.00000 (0.00000 - 0.00000), based on (Ref.
93245).
Trophic Level (Ref.
69278): 4.0 ±0.7 se; Based on size and trophs of closest relatives
Resilience (Ref.
69278): Very Low, minimum population doubling time more than 14 years (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Vulnerability (Ref.
59153): Very high vulnerability (75 of 100) .