Potato cod

Potato cod
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Perciformes
Family: Serranidae
Genus: Epinephelus
Species: E. tukula
Binomial name
Epinephelus tukula
(Morgans, 1959[1])
Potato cod range (green)

The Potato cod, Epinephelus tukula (also called potato grouper or potato bass) is a least concern fish as labeled by the IUCN Red List, and a native fish in Australia [2] The Potato Cod is also a native to many other Asian countries, including Malaysia.[3] It can reach a length of 8.5 feet and can weigh as much as 110 kilograms (240 pounds). Although considered harmless, the Potato Rockcod is inqusitive, and on rare occasions, large individuals may be aggressive.[4]

Location

Epinephelus tukula is not a common species where fishing is known to occur, but may be more common in unfished areas. The species is patchy over its range and highly localized. Very rare in Japan.

Epinephelus tukula is a widely distributed Indo-Pacific species. It can be found in the Red Sea, Pakistan, southern Oman, Somalia, Socotra (Yemen), Kenya, Tanzania, Madagascar, Mozambique, KwaZulu-Natal (South Africa), some western Indian Ocean islands (Seychelles, Mauritius, Réunion), west coast of India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia (Flores and Bali -Nusa Penida, Solomon Islands, excluding Irian-Jaya), the northwest Australian shelf, Great Barrier Reef, Christmas Island, Coral Sea, Osprey Reef, Papua New Guinea, Taiwan, southern Japan, Paracel Islands, Pratas Reef, and the East African coast from the Red Sea south to Aliwal Shoal 30°S (South Africa.[5]

See also

Habitat

Salt water or Australia

Dispersion

The gulf of Thailand

Utilization

Fishery: Sustaining; Game : Angling

References

  1. "ITIS Standard Report Page: Epinephelus tukula". Retrieved 2008-08-26.
  2. Potato Cod, What Fish Is This, Department of Fisheries, Western Australia. Accessed on line December 23, 2007.
  3. Anonymous, Author (6 August 2011). "Whopper of a Grouper". The Star. Retrieved 6 August 2011.
  4. Dianne J. Bray, 2011, Potato Rockcod, Epinephelus tukula, in Fishes of Australia, accessed 07 Oct 2014, http://www.fishesofaustralia.net.au/home/species/3850
  5. "Epinephelus tukula". IUCN. Retrieved 5 August 2014.

http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/132773/0

External links

Wikispecies has information related to: Epinephelus
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Epinephelus tukula.


This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Thursday, September 24, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.