syn. Serranus dispar, Serranus dispar a, Serranus dispar var. a
up to 200 cm110 Kg10-400 mLeast Concern
1125
Two meters (6.5 ft) of grouper covered in dark potato-shaped blotches, and the one big fish on this reef that comes to look at you rather than leaving.
That behavior is real and well documented. Where they are not hunted, potato groupers approach divers directly, hold station a meter away, and follow along a wall for whole dives. Some individuals at particular sites are known by name to guides over years. Where they are speared, they vanish - and they do not come back, which makes their presence a fair measure of how a reef is treated.
It is an ambush predator with a mouth built for suction, taking fish, rays, crabs and spiny lobsters whole; the lobster armor is no obstacle to something that swallows rather than bites.
Like other big groupers it is protogynous - female first, male later - long-lived and slow to replace. It sits deeper than most of its relatives, from ten meters down to depths well past diving range, which is part of why any are left at all.
The genus.Epinephelus Bloch 1793 - epinéphelos (ancient Greek for clouded over). ETYFish
The species.Epinephelus tukula Morgans 1959 - from Vielle tukula. ETYFish
How to recognise it
pale gray body covered in large dark potato-shaped blotches
Overfishing is a potential localized threat (e.g., East Africa and Coral Sea), but is not considered a major threat on a global level at this time. Most fishing of this species is small-scale, but largely unregulated, and can generally be assumed to be increasing (e.g., Martosubroto 2005, Cunningham and Bodiguel 2006, Morgan 2006, Flewelling and Hosch 2006). Degradation of coral reef habitat via bleaching events or destructive fishing practices may impact this species at some unknown level (Sheppard 2003).
Threat classification from the IUCN Red List.
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