Tiger grouper
| Tiger grouper | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Perciformes |
| Family: | Serranidae |
| Genus: | Mycteroperca |
| Species: | M. tigris |
| Binomial name | |
| Mycteroperca tigris (Valenciennes, 1833) | |
The tiger grouper (Mycteroperca tigris) is a species of fish in the Serranidae family. This grouper has a tapered body, often reddish, with vertical stripes on its sides. It also may have, darker, dusky lines on the sides of its body. Young individuals have a yellow colour. This fish lives in sheltered reef areas. Growing up to 35 in (86 cm) long, the average weight is around 10 pounds. [1] Groupers are big robust predators that draw in food by sucking it into their mouths. They usually live in five to 20 feet of water. [2]
Location
It is found in Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Brazil, Cayman Islands, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, the Dominican Republic, French Guiana, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Martinique, Mexico, Montserrat, Netherlands Antilles, Nicaragua, Panama, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands, the United States, Venezuela, the British Virgin Islands, and the US Virgin Islands. Its natural habitats are open seas, shallow seas, subtidal aquatic beds, and coral reefs. It is threatened by habitat loss.
References
- Garcia-Moliner, G. 2004. Mycteroperca tigris. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 4 August 2007.
- Ketut Sugama, Michael A. Rimmer, Suko Ismi, Isti Koesharyani, Ketut Suwirya, N.A. Giri and Veronica R. Alava. 2012. Hatchery management of tiger grouper (Epinephelus fuscoguttatus): a best-practice manual.