Epinephelus nigritus

Taxobox
name = Black grouper


status = CR | status_system = IUCN3.1
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Actinopterygii
ordo = Perciformes
familia = Serranidae
genus = "Epinephelus"
species = "E. nigritus"
binomial = "Epinephelus nigritus"
binomial_authority = (Holbrook, 1855)
synonyms = The black grouper or warsaw grouper, ("Epinephelus nigritus"), is a species of fish in the Serranidae family. It is found in Belize, Brazil, Cuba, Haiti, Panama, Trinidad and Tobago, the United States, and possibly Suriname. Its natural habitats are open seas, shallow seas, subtidal aquatic beds, and coral reefs. It is threatened by habitat loss.

The warsaw grouper is a U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service [http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/species/concern/ Species of Concern] . Species of Concern are those species about which the U.S. Government’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Marine Fisheries Service, has some concerns regarding status and threats, but for which insufficient information is available to indicate a need to list the species under the U.S. [http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/laws/esa/ Endangered Species Act] (ESA).

pecies Description

Warsaw groupers are classified as deep-water groupers since they inhabit reefs on the continental shelf break in waters 180 to 1700 feet (55 to 525 m) deep. They are the only grouper with 10 dorsal spines. They are dark reddish brown or brownish grey to almost black in color dorsally, dull reddish grey below.

Ecology

Adults are usually found on rough, rocky bottoms in depths of 180 to 1700 feet (55 to 525 m); juveniles are occasionally seen on jetties and shallow-water reefs.

Conservation

The major threat to the Warsaw grouper is mortality from fishing or bycatch release mortality (due to barotraumas – pressure change). Fishing is primarily by hook and line and bottom longlines, though the species is caught incidentally in the deepwater snapper/grouper commercial fishery. Almost all of the catch is in the Gulf of Mexico.

Conservation Designations

IUCN [http://www.iucnredlist.org/] : Critically Endangered

American Fisheries Society: Endangered

tatus Reviews

None

References

*NMFS. Species of Concern Fact Sheet [http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/species/concern/] . 2008

* Ng Wai Chuen & Huntsman, G. 2005. [http://www.iucnredlist.org/search/details.php/7860/all Epinephelus nigritus] . [http://www.iucnredlist.org 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. ] Downloaded on 04 August 2007.