Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range
Ecology
Marine; demersal; depth range 46 - 90 m (Ref. 9342). Subtropical; 33°N - 10°S, 116°W - 78°W (Ref. 5222)
Eastern Pacific: southern California in the USA, south to Peru.
Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 100.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 5222)
Dorsal spines (total): 11; Dorsal soft rays (total): 16 - 18; Anal spines: 3; Anal soft rays: 8. Distinguished by the following characteristics: dark red or brown head and body; darker pectoral fins than body; tips of interspinous dorsal fin membranes darker than the rest of the membranes; prominent black moustache streak occurs above maxilla; depth of body contained 2.4-2.6 times in SL; head length 2.3-2.4 times in SL; convex interorbital area; rounded preopercle, finely serrate, enlarged serrae at angle but covered by skin; distinctly convex upper edge of operculum (Ref. 89707).
Body shape (shape guide): fusiform / normal; Cross section: compressed.
Common in the Gulf of California. Occasionally encountered in isolated reefs and sandy bottoms near the coast at depths of 46 to 90 m; uncommon in shallow waters (Ref. 89707).
Life cycle and mating behavior
Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae
Craig, M.T. and P.A. Hastings, 2007. A molecular phylogeny of the groupers of the subfamily Epinephelinae (Serranidae) with revised classification of the epinephelini. Ichthyol. Res. 54:1-17. (Ref. 83414)
IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2025-2)
Threat to humans
Harmless
Human uses
Fisheries: minor commercial
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