| Malabar Grouper | |
|---|---|
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Perciformes |
| Family: | Serranidae |
| Genus: | Epinephelus |
| Species: | E. malabaricus |
| Binomial name | |
| 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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This shallow water fish is found in the Red Sea, south to South Africa, as far as southeast Australia and south Japan.[2]
The Malabar grouper (Epinephelus malabaricus), a member of groupers 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 weight 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.
As voracious predators, they feed on fish, crustaceans and, occasionally, cephalopods.
They can be found as deep as 60m, in lagoons, mangrove swamps, reefs and sand bottoms.