Epinephelus marginatus

Dusky grouper ( Epinephelus marginatus )

The dusky grouper ( Epinephelus marginatus ) is a species belonging to the genus Epinephelus groupers. He lives in the reefs and rocky shores of the eastern and western Atlantic and in the Mediterranean.

The stock is mainly due to overfishing by commercial fisheries, threatened. The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources ( IUCN) classified the species as endangered ( Endangered, EN).

Features

The brown grouper reaches a maximum length of about 1.5 meters, but usually remains less than one meter long. The average weight is 12 kg. He has, like other groupers, a high-backed and laterally slightly flattened body with a large head. The mouth is terminal and extends below the eyes. Back and sides of the fish are brown to dark green with a yellow marbling, the belly is yellow.

Like other groupers, he has a gill cover with a serrated edge, which gave its name to the fish. The body is covered with small comb scales. The dorsal fin is high trained and notched in the middle, it has 11 hard and 15-16 soft rays. The pelvic fins are breast constantly having 16 to 18 fin rays, the anal fin has 3 hard and 8-9 soft rays.

Dissemination

The dusky grouper is a common in the eastern and western Atlantic and in the Mediterranean reef and rock dwellers, where it occurs in subtropical regions mainly. He is widespread in the eastern Atlantic from the Bay of Biscay to the coast of Angola and around the southern tip of Africa to Madagascar. In the western Atlantic, the range extends from Bermuda to Brazil, Uruguay and northern Argentina.

Way of life

The fish are site- faithful loner and form areas in reefs and rocky shores at depths from 8 to 200 meters. They feed on molluscs, especially octopus, crustaceans and smaller fish.

The dusky grouper is a Protogyner hermaphrodites, the first female fish changes accordingly from a body length between 40 and 80 centimeters his gender and becomes a male animal. The spawning season ranges in the Northeast Atlantic from March to June, the females leave the breeding to the open water. The eggs are pelagic drift with the flow and slip according to the open water.

The brown grouper reach an age of up to 50 years.