Black grouper

Black grouper
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Perciformes
Family:	Serranidae
Genus:	Mycteroperca
Species:	M. bonaci
Binomial name
Mycteroperca bonaci Poey, 1860

The black grouper (Mycteroperca bonaci) is one of the best known of the large group of Perciform fish called groupers.

Description

The black grouper is a large marine fish, growing up to 150 centimetres in length and 100 kilograms in weight. It has an olive or gray body, with black blotches and brassy spots. The preopercle is gently rounded.

The black grouper is a solitary fish. The fish spawns between May and August. It is a protogynous hermaphrodite, i.e. the young are predominantly female but transform into males as they grow larger.

Adults feed mainly on other fish and squid, though the younger fish feed on crustaceans especially shrimp.

Distribution

It is associated with rocky or coral reefs but is not dependent on them; it is found in the Western Atlantic Ocean, from Massachusetts, USA, in the north to southern Brazil, but is particularly associated with the southern Gulf of Mexico, the Florida Keys, the Bahamas and the Caribbean. Adults are not found at the northern extremes of its range. It lives mostly near the surface, at depths ranging from 6 to 33 meters.

Uses

The black grouper is quite tasty and an important food fish, is fished for sale but also for sea-angling.

Conservation

The black grouper is an IUCN Red List Near threatened species, vulnerable to increases in exploitation because it is a relatively slow breeder.

There are other fish that are sometimes called "black groupers." These include the similar gag grouper, Mycteroperca microlepis, the misty grouper Epinephelus mystacinus, and the critically endangered Warsaw grouper Epinephelus nigritus.

References

• "Mycteroperca bonaci". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. http://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=167760. Retrieved 11 March 2006. 
• Froese, Rainer, and Daniel Pauly, eds. (2006). "Mycteroperca bonaci" in FishBase. January 2006 version.