Marquesan grouper

The Marquesan grouper (Epinephelus irroratus) is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a grouper from the subfamily Epinephelinae which is part of the family Serranidae, which also includes the anthias and sea basses. It is endemic to French Polynesia. Its natural habitats are open seas, shallow seas, subtidal aquatic beds, and coral reefs.

Marquesan grouper

Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Perciformes
Family: Serranidae
Genus: Epinephelus
Species:
E. irroratus
Binomial name
Epinephelus irroratus
(Forster, 1801)
Synonyms[2]
  • Perca var. irrorata Forster, 1801
  • Serranus spiniger Günther, 1859
  • Epinephelus spiniger (Günther, 1859)
  • Epinephelus albopunctulatus Boulenger, 1895

Description

The Marquesan grouper has a body which has a standard length that is 2.7 to 3.3 times its depth. The dorsal profile of the head is slightly convex. The finely serrated preopercle has a rounded corner which also has a slight indentation, the serrations on the lower edge are slightly enlarged. The upper edge of the gill cover is nearly straight.[3] There are 11 spines in the dorsal fin and 16 soft rays while the anal fin contains 3 spines and 8 soft rays.[2] The caudal fin is truncate or marginally rounded.[3] This species is reddish brown in colour with a white dot on each scale leading to the appearance of fine, white speckling. There is a dark reddish brown stripe on the maxilla. The membrane between the dorsal fine spines is red while the posterior edges of the dorsal, anal, caudal and pectoral fins shows a white line. This species attains a maximum standard length of 37 centimetres (15 in) and has a maximum published weight of 770 grams (1.70 lb).[2]

Distribution

The Marquesan grouper is endemic to the Marquesas Islands in French Polynesia, records from Japan and the Philippines are thought to be erroneous.[1]

Habitat and biology

The Marquesan grouper is found at depths of 20 ti where it lives among rocky and coral reefs,[1] other than that little information has been published on the biology of this species.[2]

Taxonomy

The Marquesan grouper was first formally described described in 1801 as Perca var. irrorata by the German naturalist and Calvinist pastor Johann Reinhold Forster (1729–1798). This was published in Bloch & Schneider's Systema Ichthyologiae and the type locality was given as St. Christian Island, now called Tahuata, in the Marquesas Islands.[4]

Utilisation

The Marquesan grouper is taken by local fisheries and all fish landed are marketed locally.[1] They are caught using spears, hook and line and traps.[3]

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gollark: What? I've been on lots of trains. You don't have to sit down constantly.
gollark: Although sometimes there are issues, it's generally more "doing stupid things to appear safe" than "being too safe".
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References
  1. Leung Lap Boon, B. & Sadovy, Y. (2018). "Epinephelus irroratus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2018: e.T44676A100549357. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T44676A100549357.en. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
  2. Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2019). "Epinephelus irroratus" in FishBase. December 2019 version.
  3. Heemstra, P.C. & J.E. Randall (1993). FAO Species Catalogue. Vol. 16. Groupers of the world (family Serranidae, subfamily Epinephelinae). An annotated and illustrated catalogue of the grouper, rockcod, hind, coral grouper and lyretail species known to date (PDF). FAO Fish. Synopsis. 125 (16). FAO, Rome. p. 170. ISBN 92-5-103125-8.
  4. Eschmeyer, W. N.; R. Fricke & R. van der Laan (eds.). "Perca var. irrorata". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
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