Brown-marbled grouper (tiger grouper)
Epinephelus fuscoguttatus
Valid name.
- English
- Brown-marbled grouper (tiger grouper)
- Scientific
- Epinephelus fuscoguttatus
- Dhivehi
- ކަސް ފާނަKas faana
- Maximum size
- About 1.2 m and 11 kg
- Depth and habitat
- Coral reefs, lagoons and channels, about 1 to 60 m
- IUCN status
- VU · VulnerableVulnerable (VU), assessed 2016
Description
A large, heavy-bodied grouper, pale brown with dark brown irregular blotches and many small dark spots, and a small dark saddle on the tail base. It is an ambush predator of fish, crustaceans and octopus. It gathers at specific sites to spawn around the new moon, which makes it easy to overfish. Growth is slow and fish change sex from female to male as they age.
In the Maldives
A high-value species in the Maldives' live and chilled grouper export fishery. The 2020 Grouper Fishery Management Plan set a 60 cm minimum landing size for it and protects spawning aggregation sites.
Sources
- fishbase.se /summary/Epinephelus-fuscoguttatus.html
- fao.org /4/AD471E/AD471E00.htm
- fishbase.se /comnames/CommonNamesList.php?ID=4460&GenusName=Epinephelus&SpeciesNam
- dv.wikipedia.org /wiki/ކަސް_ފާނަ
- leap.unep.org /en/countries/mv/national-legislation/maldives-grouper-fishery-managem
- visitmaldives.com /en/news/new-rules-agreed-to-save-threatened-maldives-grouper-stocks
- commons.wikimedia.org /wiki/File:Brown_marbled_grouper_(Epinephelus_fuscoguttatus)_Lakshadwe
Dhivehi name source: Thaana from Dhivehi Wikipedia (fish articles derived from the MRS 1997 Dhivehi edition); Latin transliterated by Pax. Single source only: not in the MRS 1997 text that survives online, nor in FishBase for the Maldives.