Epinephelus morrhua, Comet grouper : fisheries, gamefish

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Epinephelus morrhua (Valenciennes, 1833)

Comet grouper
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Native range | All suitable habitat | Point map | Year 2050
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Epinephelus morrhua   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Epinephelus morrhua (Comet grouper)
Epinephelus morrhua
Picture by Justine, J.-L.

Classification / Names Nomi Comuni | Sinonimi | Catalog of Fishes(Genere, Specie) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

> Perciformes/Serranoidei (Groupers) > Epinephelidae (Groupers)
Etymology: Epinephelus: Greek, epinephelos = cloudy (Ref. 45335).
More on author: Valenciennes.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecologia

marino associati a barriera corallina; non migratori; distribuzione batimetrica 80 - 370 m (Ref. 5222). Tropical; 31°N - 31°S, 30°E - 134°W (Ref. 5222)

Distribuzione Stati | Aree FAO | Ecosystems | Presenze | Point map | Introduzioni | Faunafri

Indo-Pacific: Red Sea and East Africa to the central Pacific. Epinephelus poecilonotus, Epinephelus radiatus, and Epinephelus tuamotoensis are sometimes referred to as this species.

Size / Peso / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 90.0 cm TL maschio/sesso non determinato; (Ref. 2871); common length : 60.0 cm TL maschio/sesso non determinato; (Ref. 9137); peso massimo pubblicato: 6.7 kg (Ref. 40637)

Short description Morfologia | Morfometria

Spine dorsali (totale): 11; Raggi dorsali molli (totale): 14-15; Spine anali 3; Raggi anali molli: 7 - 8. Distinguished by the following characteristics: head and body tan, with dark brown bands: bifurcate band that begins at rear edge of eye, upper branch extending to a dark brown saddle blotch on the nape just in front of dorsal fin, lower branch running to lower opercular spine and continuing on body as midlateral band that bifurcates above the pectoral fin, upper branch of this band running to a dark blotch at the base of 3rd to 7th dorsal fin rays; dark band from the upper edge of the operculum to base of 5th to 9th dorsal fin spines; narrow band from lower edge of eye to pectoral fin base, continued as broken band along lower part of body and curving up to the dorsal part of peduncle; broad band from maxillary groove to posterior end of interopercle; small dark brown spots often present in the pale areas between bands; depth of body contained 2.8-3.1 times in SL; head length 2.3-2.5 times in SL; flat to moderately convex interorbital area, dorsal head profile slightly convex; shallow indentation on preopercle just above the enlarged serrae at the angle; upper edge of operculum almost straight; maxilla reaches to or past vertical at rear edge of eye; 2 rows of teeth on midlateral part of lower jaw (Ref. 89707).

Biologia     Glossario (es. epibenthic)

Found in deep waters from 80-370 m on slopes of islands, sea mounts or continental shelves. Feeds on benthic fishes and large invertebrates (Ref. 89707). Considered rare in Tahiti but quite common in atolls (Ref. 4821). The species is easily confused with E. poecilonotus, E. radiatus, or E. tuamotuensis, three closely related deep-water groupers. Known to be ciguatoxic at Mauritius. Uncommon in local markets (probably due to it deep-water habitat).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturità | Riproduzione | Deposizione | Uova | Fecundity | Larve

Main reference Upload your references | Bibliografia | Coordinatore | Collaboratori

Heemstra, P.C. and 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. Rome: FAO. FAO Fish. Synop. 125(16):382 p. (Ref. 5222)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 22 November 2016

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Reports of ciguatera poisoning (Ref. 5222)





Human uses

Pesca: scarso interesse commerciale; Pesce da pesca sportiva: si
FAO - pesca: landings; Publication: search | FishSource | Sea Around Us

Informazioni ulteriori

Stati
Aree FAO
Ecosystems
Presenze
Introduzioni
Stocks
Ecologia
Dieta
Prede
Consumo di cibo
Razione
Nomi Comuni
Sinonimi
Metabolismo
Predatori
Ecotossicologia
Riproduzione
Maturità
Deposizione
Spawning aggregation
Fecundity
Uova
Egg development
Age/Size
Accrescimento
Length-weight
Length-length
Length-frequencies
Morfometria
Morfologia
Larve
Dinamica popolazioni larvali
Reclutamento
Abbondanza
BRUVS
Bibliografia
Acquacoltura
Profilo di acquacoltura
Varietà
Genetica
Electrophoreses
Ereditarietà
Malattie
Elaborazione
Nutrients
Mass conversion
Collaboratori
Immagini
Stamps, Coins Misc.
Suoni
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Velocità
Modalità di nuoto
Area branchiale
Otoliths
Cervelli
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Strumenti

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Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 123201): 14.2 - 23.1, mean 19 °C (based on 305 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5000   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.01318 (0.00806 - 0.02156), b=3.03 (2.90 - 3.16), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species & Genus-body shape (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  4.0   ±0.65 se; based on food items.
Generation time: 5.0 ( na - na) years. Estimated as median ln(3)/K based on 1 growth studies.
Resilienza (Ref. 120179):  Medio, tempo minimo di raddoppiamento della popolazione 1.4 - 4.4 anni (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Moderate vulnerability (43 of 100).
Climate Vulnerability (Ref. 125649):  Very high vulnerability (86 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Very high.
Nutrients (Ref. 124155):  Calcium = 18.5 [8.7, 39.6] mg/100g; Iron = 0.44 [0.23, 0.88] mg/100g; Protein = 18.6 [17.1, 20.0] %; Omega3 = 0.138 [0.085, 0.226] g/100g; Selenium = 58.6 [32.9, 107.1] μg/100g; VitaminA = 123 [34, 423] μg/100g; Zinc = 1.01 [0.70, 1.43] mg/100g (wet weight);