Skip to main content

Giant Grouper

Epinephelus lanceolatus
Meet the largest reef dwelling fish on the planet, the appropriately named Giant Grouper. These giants can reach lengths up up to 9ft, and weigh well over 800lbs!

Interestingly, even though they are very large, they are not often seen in the wild. They are a Vulnerable species, and live solitary lives hanging out near the seafloor. In fact, not much is really known about their wild behavior. We do know that they are carnivores that feed on crustaceans, small sea turtles, and other fish, and that they probably spawn during the summer time (no spawning events have been directly observed by scientists). It is believed that they reach maturity at around 4ft (1.3m).

Giant Groupers live in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, and are sometimes referred to as Queensland Groupers. The population is considered Vulnerable due to overfishing. They are a very long lived fish, and can take decades to grow, which means replenishing the species can take a very long time. They are protected in several parts of Australia and India.
IUCN Status : Vulnerable
Location : Indian and Pacific Oceans
Size : Length up to 9ft (2.7m), Weight up to 880lbs (400kg)
Classification : Phylum : Chordata -- Class : Actinopterygii -- Order : Perciformes
Family : Serranidae -- Genus : Epinephelus -- Species : E. lanceolatus

Labels

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Bornean Orangutan

The Bornean Orangutan is one of two extant Orangutan species in the world. It is the third largest primate (after Gorillas) and is the largest primarily tree-dwelling animal in the world. Males are substantially larger than females, and average at around 165lbs. Bornean Orangutans are largely solitary. A handful might live within a small range but they will seldom interact with one another. Males and females only meet up to breed, which happens only once every several years. A young Orangutan will stay with it's mother for about five years, and the females tend to go about eight years between births. That is the longest interim period of any animal! Sadly, the Bornean Orangutans are in a lot of trouble. They need large forests in order to thrive, and deforestation and habitat degradation has left many homeless. They are also hunted for meat and for traditional medicines. Conservation areas are being established to help these guys in the wild, and it is believed that there are a...
59 comments
Read more

Four!

For anyone who was counting, yesterday was our birthday-- four years! Four years filled with animals from A to Z, more than 1,100 of them! I can't thank my readers enough, it's been wonderful! And in celebration of that milestone... I'm taking a break. Hopefully not forever, but for a little bit at least. In the mean time I plan on getting a new layout out, along with some updates to some of the older articles. I'll post updates here and on the Facebook page, I'm also brainstorming some new animal-related projects, so keep an eye out! Thanks again for four awesome years!
18 comments
Read more

Banggai Cardinalfish

Pterapogon kauderni The Banggai Cardinalfish is a small tropical fish that is becoming very rare in the wild, even though it has been successfully bred in captivity. You will only find these small, 3in long fish around the Banggai Islands of Indonesia. They are the only members of their genus, and you can tell them apart from other Cardinalfish by their three-striped bodies, tasseled first dorsal fin, long second dorsal, and their deep-forked tail fins. Banggai Cardinalfish are diurnal and live in small groups of about a dozen members. They are opportunistic feeders who dine on whatever smaller plants and animals they can find. Courtship and mating is pretty interesting for these guys-- females are the ones who initiate. They isolate a male and the pair will perform various courtship rituals before spawning. The Cardinalfish are mouthbrooders, which means that the males take the fertilized eggs (up to 90 of them) into their mouths and incubate them for up to 30 days. During t...
37 comments
Read more