Relevant synonyms None Misidentification Epinephelus tauvina Meristic formula D, XI + 13-16; A, III + 8; P, 18-20; V, I + 5; LL, 58-65; GR, 23-28.  photo : David Darom

SHORT DESCRIPTION Body moderately elongated, only slightly compressed. Dorsal fin continuous. The interspinous membrane of dorsal fin moderately incised. The posterior margin of dorsal, caudal, anal and pectoral fins is round. Large head with large mouth. Jaw extends back past the vertical or posterior edge of eye. Subequal teeth in 2-3 rows. Serrated preoperculum, subangular shaped. Three flat spines near the upper-posterior corner of operculum. color : body covered with orange to reddish-brown spots on pale greyish background with several irregular shaped darker bars. Large specimens have numerous but smaller spots. size : common 30-50 cm (max. 100 cm). DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS Other Mediterranean serranids: lack of orange to reddish-brown spots. The closely related E. malabaricus, another lessepsian migrant, has also numerous black and white spots and blotches and usually 19 pectoral rays (usually 20 in E. coioides). Other families: lack of three flat spines on the upper posterior corner of the operculum. BIOLOGY / ECOLOGY Feeds mainly on fishes, crustaceans and cephalopods. Protogynous hermaphrodite species. Females reach maturity at the age of 2-3 years (55-75 cm). Sex change occurs at the size of 55-75 cm. Eggs and larvae are pelagic. Optimal survival at temperature 30°C and salinity of 3%. habitat : benthic. Rocky and continental slope to depth of 100 m. Reported also to enter estuaries.

1st MEDITERRANEAN RECORD Israel, 1969. DISTRIBUTION Worldwide : wide Indo Pacific. Red Sea, eastern African coast south to Durban to Ryukyo Islands, northern Australia to New Caledonia. Mediterranean : recorded first, misidentified as Epinephelus tauvina, in Israel (Ben-Tuvia and Lourie, 1969). A young specimen was caught in 1998 near Trieste, North Adriatic Sea (likely cause : ballast transport) (Parenti and Bressi, 2001). ESTABLISHMENT SUCCESS Rare. Only few specimens have been collected in the Mediterranean. speculated reasons for success : MODE OF INTRODUCTION Via the Suez Canal. IMPORTANCE TO HUMANS Rare in the Mediterranean. Epinephelus coioides was tested in several countries as potential species to mariculteus (Mathews et al., 1986).

KEY REFERENCES Ben-Tuvia A. and Lourie A., 1969. A Red Sea grouper Epinephelus tauvina caught on the Mediterranean coast of Israel. Israel Journal of Zoology, 18: 245-247. Heemstra P.C. and Golani D., 1993. Clarification of the Indo-Pacific groupers (Pisces: Serranidae) in the Mediterranean Sea. Israel Journal of Zoology, 39: 381-390. Heemstra P.C. and Randall J.E., 1993. FAO species catalogue. Vol.16. Groupers of the world (Family Serranidae, Subfamily Epinephelinae). An annotated and illustrated catalogue of the groupers, rockcod, hind, coral grouper and lyretail species known to date. FAO Fisheries Synopsis. Number 125. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome, 382 pp. + 31 pl.   Parenti P. and Bressi N., 2001. First record of the orange-spotted grouper, Epinephelus coioides (Perciformes - Serranidae) in the Northern Adriatic Sea. Cybium, 25(3): 281-284. FEEDBACK / COMMENTS TO AUTHORS

Last update of the species sheet: April 2002 ©ciesm 2002