EPINEPHELUS AREOLATUS - (FORSSKAL, 1775)
Picture courtesy of: Alain Daoulas
Actinopterygii (Gigaclass) > Actinopteri (Class) > Teleostei (Subclass) > Perciformes (Order) > Percoidei (Suborder) > Epinephelidae (Family) > Epinephelus (Genus)
Mérou aréolé, Areolate grouper, Areolate rock cod, Areolated grouper, Flat-tail cod, Green-spotted rock cod, Squaretail rock cod, Yellow-spotted rock-cod, Stompstert-klipkabeljou, Garoupa areolada, Mero areolado, Gerape bandi, لؤز ذو لعوة, Omon-hata, オオモンハタ, 宝石斑鱼, 寶石斑魚,
Synonymes
Bodianus melanurus (Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1817)
Ephinephelus areolatus (Forsskål, 1775)
Epinephelus angularis (Valenciennes, 1828)
Epinephelus craspedurus (Jordan & Richardson, 1910)
Epinephelus waandersii (Bleeker, 1858)
Perca areolata (Forsskål, 1775)
Perca daba (Fabricius, 1775)
Serranus angularis (Valenciennes, 1828)
Serranus celebicus (Bleeker, 1851)
Serranus glaucus (Day, 1871)
Serranus waandersii (Bleeker, 1858)
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Description
Dorsal spines (total): 11; Dorsal soft rays (total): 15-17; Anal spines: 3; Anal soft rays: 8; Pectoral fin rays: 17-19; Gill rakers (first arch): 8-10 + 14-16; Lateral-line scales: 49-53; Pyloric caeca: 11-17. Body depth less than head length: 2.7-3.3 in SL (for specimens: 14-31 cm SL); Head length: 2.4-2.8 in SL; Preopercle with 2-7 enlarged serrae at the angle; Upper edge of operculum straight or slightly convex; Midlateral part of lower jaw with Two rows of teeth. Body scales ctenoid, cycloid scales on thorax and ventrally on abdomen; Body with auxiliary scales. Anal fin of adults rounded to slightly angular, longest soft ray: 2.0-2.6 in HL; Caudal fin slightly convex in juveniles, truncate or slightly emarginate in adults. Pelvic fins: 1.6-2.1 in head length. Max. length: 47.0 cm TL, common length: 35.0 cm TL. Max. published weight: 1.4 kg. Max. reported age: 15 years. Depth range: 6 - 200 m.
Color
Head, body, and fins pale, covered with numerous close-set brown, brownish yellow or greenish yellow spots (becoming smaller and increase in number as growth increases), the largest about size of pupil, those on front of head smaller than those on operculum; Pectoral fins pale, with small dark spots on the rays; Posterior edge of caudal fin with a distinct white margin.
Etymology
Mérou aréolé, Areolate grouper, Areolate rock cod, Areolated grouper, Flat-tail cod, Green-spotted rock cod, Squaretail rock cod, Yellow-spotted rock-cod, Stompstert-klipkabeljou, Garoupa areolada, Mero areolado, Gerape bandi, لؤز ذو لعوة, Omon-hata, オオモンハタ, 宝石斑鱼, 寶石斑魚,
Synonymes
Bodianus melanurus (Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1817)
Ephinephelus areolatus (Forsskål, 1775)
Epinephelus angularis (Valenciennes, 1828)
Epinephelus craspedurus (Jordan & Richardson, 1910)
Epinephelus waandersii (Bleeker, 1858)
Perca areolata (Forsskål, 1775)
Perca daba (Fabricius, 1775)
Serranus angularis (Valenciennes, 1828)
Serranus celebicus (Bleeker, 1851)
Serranus glaucus (Day, 1871)
Serranus waandersii (Bleeker, 1858)
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Description
Dorsal spines (total): 11; Dorsal soft rays (total): 15-17; Anal spines: 3; Anal soft rays: 8; Pectoral fin rays: 17-19; Gill rakers (first arch): 8-10 + 14-16; Lateral-line scales: 49-53; Pyloric caeca: 11-17. Body depth less than head length: 2.7-3.3 in SL (for specimens: 14-31 cm SL); Head length: 2.4-2.8 in SL; Preopercle with 2-7 enlarged serrae at the angle; Upper edge of operculum straight or slightly convex; Midlateral part of lower jaw with Two rows of teeth. Body scales ctenoid, cycloid scales on thorax and ventrally on abdomen; Body with auxiliary scales. Anal fin of adults rounded to slightly angular, longest soft ray: 2.0-2.6 in HL; Caudal fin slightly convex in juveniles, truncate or slightly emarginate in adults. Pelvic fins: 1.6-2.1 in head length. Max. length: 47.0 cm TL, common length: 35.0 cm TL. Max. published weight: 1.4 kg. Max. reported age: 15 years. Depth range: 6 - 200 m.
Color
Head, body, and fins pale, covered with numerous close-set brown, brownish yellow or greenish yellow spots (becoming smaller and increase in number as growth increases), the largest about size of pupil, those on front of head smaller than those on operculum; Pectoral fins pale, with small dark spots on the rays; Posterior edge of caudal fin with a distinct white margin.
Etymology
Epinephelus: from prefix Greek, epi = upon, on, over, near, at, before, after + from Greek, Nephos = cloud. Referring to film or membrane eye of most if not all groupers known to Bloch (although modern accounts mention only a transparent cornea protruding slightly through the orbit); Bloch also provided three vernacular names that describe the eyes: Blödaugen, German for “stupid eyes” or “bleary eyes,” depending on the translation, the English “Wall-eye,” and the French Tayes (per Bloch 1797), from taie, an opaque spot on the cornea.
areolatus: from Latin, āreolātus = courtyard; Seed bed. Here "areolatus" is used to describe patterns of small clearings or spots.
Original description: Perca areolata Forsskål, 1775 - Type locality: Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Red Sea.
Distribution
Red Sea; Indo-West Pacific: East Africa, Socotra, Persian Gulf and Madagascar east to Fiji, Tonga and Samoa, north to Sea of Japan (Korea, Japan), south to Western Australia and Queensland (Australia) and New Caledonia.
Biology
Usually found in seagrass beds or on fine sediment bottoms near rocky reefs, dead coral, or alcyonarians, in shallow continental shelf waters. Probably spawn during restricted periods and form aggregations when doing so. Eggs and early larvae are probably pelagic. Feed on fish and benthic invertebrates, primarily prawns and crabs. Commercial and recreational fish.
Similar species
Epinephelus bilobatus (Randall & Allen, 1987) - Reported from Eastern Indian Ocean and western Pacific: Western Australia to eastern Indonesia. Epinephelus areolatus lacks the dark blotches along the dorsal-fin base of the similar Epinephelus bilobatus.
Epinephelus chlorostigma (Valenciennes, 1828) - Reported from New Caledonia.
Epinephelus insularis (Nakamura & Motomura, 2021) - Reported from New Caledonia. Head, body, and all fins with small polygonal brown spots (expanded on head and body undersurface) on a pale background, forming a reticulate pattern; Pectoral fin brownish. Depth range: 120 - 300 m.
Epinephelus macrospilos (Bleeker, 1855) - Reported from New Caledonia.
Last update: 25, April 2022
Original description: Perca areolata Forsskål, 1775 - Type locality: Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Red Sea.
Distribution
Red Sea; Indo-West Pacific: East Africa, Socotra, Persian Gulf and Madagascar east to Fiji, Tonga and Samoa, north to Sea of Japan (Korea, Japan), south to Western Australia and Queensland (Australia) and New Caledonia.
Biology
Usually found in seagrass beds or on fine sediment bottoms near rocky reefs, dead coral, or alcyonarians, in shallow continental shelf waters. Probably spawn during restricted periods and form aggregations when doing so. Eggs and early larvae are probably pelagic. Feed on fish and benthic invertebrates, primarily prawns and crabs. Commercial and recreational fish.
Similar species
Epinephelus bilobatus (Randall & Allen, 1987) - Reported from Eastern Indian Ocean and western Pacific: Western Australia to eastern Indonesia. Epinephelus areolatus lacks the dark blotches along the dorsal-fin base of the similar Epinephelus bilobatus.
Epinephelus chlorostigma (Valenciennes, 1828) - Reported from New Caledonia.
Epinephelus insularis (Nakamura & Motomura, 2021) - Reported from New Caledonia. Head, body, and all fins with small polygonal brown spots (expanded on head and body undersurface) on a pale background, forming a reticulate pattern; Pectoral fin brownish. Depth range: 120 - 300 m.
Epinephelus macrospilos (Bleeker, 1855) - Reported from New Caledonia.
Last update: 25, April 2022