Malabar grouper
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| Malabar Grouper | ||||||||||||||
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| Epinephelus malabaricus Forsskål, 1775 |
Malabar Grouper, also referred to as the Estuary Cod, Greasy Cod, Spotted River Cod or Estuary Rock Cod[1], is an Indo-Pacific species of fish in the family Serranidae.
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[edit] Range
Red Sea, south to South Africa, as far as Southeast Australia and south Japan.[2]
[edit] Description
The Malabar Grouper (Epinephelus malabaricus) is one of the largest and most common cod found in tropical estuaries and on coastal reefs. It can reach a length of over 1.2m and weigh over 150kg.[3] The Malabar Grouper is olive-green with a number of brown spots randomly scattered. Younger fish have a number of wide, broken vertical bands of darker shade across their bodies, but in maturity they seem to become a uniform darker colour. Young fish have numerous brown spots. The tail fin is rounded.
[edit] Diet
A voracious predator feeding on fish, crustaceans and occasionally cephalopods
[edit] Habitat
As deep as 60m, in lagoons, mangrove swamps, reefs and sand bottoms.
[edit] References
- ^ "Epinephelus malabaricus". FishBase. Ed. Ranier Froese and Daniel Pauly. 5 2007 version. N.p.: FishBase, 2007.
- ^ Lieske, E. and Myers, R.F. (2004) Coral reef guide; Red Sea London, HarperCollins ISBN 0-00-715986-2
- ^ Siliotti, A. (2002) fishes of the red sea Verona, Geodia ISBN 88-87177-42-2
