Epinephelus

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Epinephelus
Temporal range: Late Miocene to recent
Blacktip Grouper (Epinephelus fasciatus) (6132696543) (cropped).jpg
Epinephelus fasciatus , the type species
Epinephelus tukula 2573.jpg
Epinephelus tukula
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Division: Teleostei
Order: Perciformes
Family: Epinephelidae
Genus: Epinephelus
Bloch, 1793
Type species
Epinephelus marginalis
Bloch, 1793 [1]
Species

see text

Synonyms [2]
List

Epinephelus is a genus of marine, ray-finned fish, groupers from the subfamily Epinephelinae, part of the family Serranidae, which also includes the anthias and sea basses. They are predatory fish, largely associated with reefs, and are found in tropical and subtropical seas throughout the world. They are important target species for fisheries.

Contents

Taxonomy

Beginning in 2001, genetic analyses started to show that the genus Epinephelus was paraphyletic, with several other grouper genera nested within it. [3] Steps to rectify this paraphyly first occurred in 2007, when several Epinephelus species were moved to the revalidated genus Hyporthodus . [4] In 2018, a study again addressed the paraphyly by moving a large number of Epinephelus species to Mycteroperca , and moved the monospecific genera Anyperodon and Cromileptes to Epinephelus. However, the changes recommended in 2018 have not yet been accepted by authorities such as Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes. [5] [6]

Species that are classified in the genus Epinephelus according to Ma & Craig 2018 are split into two clades. [5]

Characteristics

The fishes in the genus Epinephelus have elongated, subcylindrical bodies, which may be oblong or deep and compressed in shape. The depth of the body varies between 2.3 and 3.7 times the standard length and the head is usually around the same length as the body is deep. The preopercle can be rounded or angular and has a serrated rear edge with the serrations at the angle being enlarged to a lesser or greater extent. In a small number of species, serrations are small, and on the lower edge, they are covered by skin. Caniform teeth are found at the front of jaws, although these can be rather small in a few species. They do not have any obviously enlarged caniform teeth in the middle of the lower jaw. Teeth are on the roof of the mouth. In adults, the maxilla does not have a noticeable bony protrusion on the lower rear angle, although it can have a deep step or hook-like process, which is hidden by the upper lips, on the rear part of its lower edge. The dorsal fin normally contains 9 spines, although some species have 10, as well as 12 to 19 rays. The origin of the dorsal fin sits above the opercle and the soft rayed part is shorter than the spiny part. The anal fin contains three distinct spines and 7 to 10 soft rays. The pectoral fin is rounded, with its middle rays being longer than the others. The caudal fin may be rounded, truncated, or concave, contains eight branched rays and 8 to 10 fin rays, which are slender, unbranched, and unsegmented (referred to as "procurrent") fin rays at the leading edges of the caudal fin on the upper lobe and seven branched rays and 7 to 10 procurrent rays in the lower lobe. The body is covered in ctenoid or smooth scales. [7]

Habitat and biology

Epinephelus diacanthus Epinephelus diacanthus mangaluru.jpg
Epinephelus diacanthus

Epinephelus groupers are occur mainly on coral or rocky reefs, although a small number of species have been recorded over substrates consisting of sand, silt, or mud. A few species are found in deep water, down to at least 525 m (1,722 ft), but the majority occur between 10 and 200 m (33 and 656 ft). The two largest members of the genus, E. itajara and E. lanceolatus , may attain a length in excess of 2 m (6.6 ft) and a weight greater than 400 kg (880 lb), and frequently have been recorded in estuaries and harbours. Most of the species in the genus Epinephelus are predatory fish that feed on larger invertebrates, mostly crustaceans, and other fishes taken on or close to the substrate. E. undulosus is an unusual grouper species distinguished by having many, long gill rakers, and this species has been reported to feed on pelagic tunicates, at least on occasion. Only a few species have had their reproductive biology studied, and many species appear to be protogynous hermaphrodites. In some species, though, males in the populations are smaller than some of the females, suggesting a more complex biology, which suggests that some females do not change sex, and that some males may not have a undergone a functional female stage. [7]

Distribution

Epinephelus species are found around the world in tropical and subtropical seas and oceans. The greatest diversity occurs in the Indo-West Pacific, while eight species are found in the eastern Pacific, 11 in the western Atlantic Ocean, and 9 species in the eastern Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean. [7] Four species have entered the Mediterranean Sea from the Red Sea via the Suez Canal as Lessepsian migrants. [8]

Utilisation

Epinephelus groupers are among the most valuable species exploited by commercial fishes in the world's tropical seas, and they fetch some of the highest prices when marketed. They have also been used in aquaculture. [7]

Species

The recognized species in this genus are the following, [9] with clades named as per Ma & Craig 2018, [5] and additional species placements from other studies. [10] [11] [12] [13] [14]

CladeSpecies
Clade F Epinephelus adscensionis (Osbeck, 1765)
Epinephelus akaara (Temminck & Schlegel, 1843) (Hong Kong grouper)
Epinephelus amblycephalus (Bleeker, 1857) (banded grouper)
Epinephelus analogus T. N. Gill, 1863 (spotted grouper)
Epinephelus areolatus (Forsskål, 1775) (areolate grouper)
Epinephelus awoara (Temminck & Schlegel, 1843) (yellow grouper)
Epinephelus bilobatus J. E. Randall & G. R. Allen, 1987 (twin-spot grouper)
Epinephelus bleekeri (Vaillant, 1878) (dusky-tail grouper)
Epinephelus bontoides (Bleeker, 1855) (pale-margin grouper)
Epinephelus chlorostigma (Valenciennes, 1828) (brown-spotted grouper)
Epinephelus clippertonensis G. R. Allen & D. R. Robertson, 1999
Epinephelus cyanopodus (J. Richardson, 1846) (speckled blue grouper)
Epinephelus diacanthus (Valenciennes, 1828) (spiny-cheek grouper)
Epinephelus fasciatomaculosus (W. K. H. Peters, 1865) (rock grouper)
Epinephelus fasciatus (Forsskål, 1775) (black-tip grouper)
Epinephelus faveatus (Valenciennes, 1828) (barred-chest grouper)
Epinephelus flavocaeruleus (Lacépède, 1802) (blue-and-yellow grouper)
Epinephelus gabriellae J. E. Randall & Heemstra, 1991 (multispotted grouper)
Epinephelus geoffroyi (Klunzinger, 1870) (Red Sea spotted grouper)
Epinephelus guttatus (Linnaeus, 1758) (red hind)
Epinephelus hexagonatus (Bloch & J. G. Schneider, 1801) (star-spotted grouper)
Epinephelus howlandi (Günther, 1873) (black-saddle grouper)
Epinephelusinsularis Nakamura & Motomura, 2021
Epinephelus irroratus (Forster, 1801) (Marquesan grouper)
Epinephelusjaponicus (Temminck & Schlegel, 1843) [15]
Epinephelus labriformis (L. Jenyns, 1840) (starry grouper)
Epinephelus longispinis (Kner, 1864) (long-spine grouper)
Epinephelus macrospilos (Bleeker, 1855) (snub-nose grouper)
Epinephelus maculatus (Bloch, 1790) (high-fin grouper)
Epinephelus melanostigma Schultz, 1953 (one-blotch grouper)
Epinephelus merra Bloch, 1793 (honeycomb grouper)
Epinephelus miliaris (Valenciennes, 1830) (net-fin grouper)
Epinephelus morio (Valenciennes, 1828) (red grouper)
Epinephelus multinotatus (W. K. H. Peters, 1876) (white-blotched grouper)
Epinephelus polylepis J. E. Randall & Heemstra, 1991 (small-scaled grouper)
Epinephelus quoyanus (Valenciennes, 1830) (long-fin grouper)
Epinephelus rankini Whitley, 1945 [16]
Epinephelus retouti Bleeker, 1868 (red-tipped grouper)
Epinephelus rivulatus (Valenciennes, 1830) (halfmoon grouper)
Epinephelus sexfasciatus (Valenciennes, 1828) (six-bar grouper)
Epinephelus spilotoceps Schultz, 1953 (four-saddle grouper)
Epinephelus stictus J. E. Randall & G. R. Allen, 1987 (black-dotted grouper)
Epinephelus striatus (Bloch, 1792) (Nassau grouper)
Epinephelus tankahkeei Wu, Qu, Lin, Tang & Ding 2020
Epinephelus tauvina (Forsskål, 1775) (greasy grouper)
Epinephelus trimaculatus (Valenciennes, 1828) (three-spot grouper)
Epinephelus undulatostriatus (W. K. H. Peters, 1867) (Maori grouper)
Epinephelus undulosus (Quoy & Gaimard, 1824) (wavy-lined grouper)
Clade E Epinephelus aeneus (É. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1817) (white grouper)
Epinephelus bruneus Bloch, 1793 (long-tooth grouper)
Epinephelus coeruleopunctatus (Bloch, 1790) (white-spotted grouper)
Epinephelus coioides (F. Hamilton, 1822) (orange-spotted grouper)
Epinephelus corallicola (Valenciennes, 1828) (coral grouper)
Epinephelus daemelii (Günther, 1876) (saddle-tail grouper)
Epinephelus erythrurus (Valenciennes, 1828) (cloudy grouper)
Epinephelus fuscoguttatus (Forsskål, 1775) (brown-marbled grouper)
Epinephelus itajara (Lichtenstein, 1822) (Atlantic goliath grouper)
Epinephelus lanceolatus (Bloch, 1790) (giant grouper
Epinephelus latifasciatus (Temminck & Schlegel, 1843) (striped grouper)
Epinephelus malabaricus (Bloch & J. G. Schneider, 1801) (Malabar grouper)
Epinephelus ongus (Bloch, 1790) (white-streaked grouper)
Epinephelus polyphekadion (Bleeker, 1849) (camouflage grouper)
Epinephelus quinquefasciatus (Bocourt, 1868) (Pacific goliath grouper)
Epinephelus summana (Forsskål, 1775) (Summan grouper)
Epinephelus tukula Morgans, 1959 (potato grouper)
Clade D* Epinephelus albomarginatus Boulenger, 1903 (white-edged grouper)
Epinephelus andersoni Boulenger, 1903 (cat-face grouper)
Epinephelus caninus (Valenciennes, 1843) (dog-tooth grouper)
Epinephelus costae (Steindachner, 1878) (gold-blotch grouper)
Epinephelus epistictus (Temminck & Schlegel, 1843) (dotted grouper)
Epinephelus fuscomarginatus Johnson & Worthington Wilmer, 2019
Epinephelus goreensis (Valenciennes, 1830) (Dungat grouper)
Epinephelus heniochus Fowler, 1904 (Bridled grouper)
Epinephelus magniscuttis Postel, Fourmanoir & Guézé, 1963 (speckled grouper)
Epinephelus marginatus (R. T. Lowe, 1834) (dusky grouper)
Epinephelus morrhua (Valenciennes, 1833) (comet grouper)
Epinephelus poecilonotus (Temminck & Schlegel, 1843) (dot-dash grouper)
Epinephelus posteli Fourmanoir & Crosnier, 1964 (striped-fin grouper)
Epinephelus radiatus (F. Day, 1868) (oblique-banded grouper)
Unknown Epinephelus chlorocephalus (Valenciennes, 1830) (Tonga grouper)
Epinephelus craigi Frable, Tucker & Walker, 2018
Epinephelus indistinctus J. E. Randall & Heemstra, 1991 (Somali grouper)
Epinephelus kupangensis Tucker, Kurniasih & Craig, 2016
Epinephelus lebretonianus (Hombron & Jacquinot, 1853) (mystery grouper)
Epinephelus polystigma (Bleeker, 1853) (white-dotted grouper)
Epinephelus randalli Hoshino, Denou & Nguyen 2024
Epinephelus sicanus (Doderlein, 1882) [17]
Epinephelus socialis (Günther, 1873) (surge grouper)
Epinephelus stoliczkae (F. Day, 1875) (epaulet grouper)
Epinephelus suborbitalis Amaoka & J. E. Randall, 1990 (seamount grouper)
Epinephelus timorensis J. E. Randall & G. R. Allen, 1987 (yellow-spotted grouper)
Epinephelus trophis J. E. Randall & G. R. Allen, 1987 (plump grouper)
Epinephelus tuamotuensis Fourmanoir, 1971 (reticulated grouper)

* Nota bene : Species in clade D are phylogenetically nested within Mycteroperca . [5]

In addition, the fossil species † Epinephelus progigas Arambourg, 1928 is known from the latest Miocene (Messinian) of Algeria. [18] [19]

References

  1. ↑ Fricke, Ron; Eschmeyer, William N. & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Epinephelus". Catalog of Fishes . California Academy of Sciences . Retrieved 22 June 2020.
  2. ↑ Fricke, Ron; Eschmeyer, William N. & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Genera in the family Epinephelinae". Catalog of Fishes . California Academy of Sciences . Retrieved 22 June 2020.
  3. ↑ Craig, Matthew T; Pondella, Daniel J; Franck, Jens P.C; Hafner, John C (2001). "On the Status of the Serranid Fish Genus Epinephelus: Evidence for Paraphyly Based upon 16S rDNA Sequence". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 19 (1): 121–130. doi:10.1006/mpev.2000.0913.
  4. ↑ Craig, Matthew T.; Hastings, Philip A. (2007). "A molecular phylogeny of the groupers of the subfamily Epinephelinae (Serranidae) with a revised classification of the Epinephelini". Ichthyological Research. 54 (1): 1–17. doi:10.1007/s10228-006-0367-x. ISSN   1341-8998.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Ma, Ka Yan; Craig, Matthew T. (2018). "An Inconvenient Monophyly: An Update on the Taxonomy of the Groupers (Epinephelidae)". Copeia. 106 (3): 443–456. doi:10.1643/CI-18-055. ISSN   0045-8511.
  6. ↑ "CAS - Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes:". researcharchive.calacademy.org. Retrieved 2026-10-11.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Heemstra, P.C. & 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 (PDF). FAO Fish. Synopsis. Vol. 125. FAO, Rome. pp. 69–75. ISBN   92-5-103125-8.
  8. ↑ Daniel Golani; Grigori Askarov; Yuri Dashevsky (2015). "First record of the Red Sea spotted grouper, Epinephelus geoffroyi (Klunzinger, 1870) (Serranidae) in the Mediterranean". BioInvasions Records. 4 (2): 143–145. Bibcode:2015BioIR...4..143G. doi: 10.3391/bir.2015.4.2.12 .
  9. ↑ Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Species in genus Epinephelus". FishBase . June 2016 version.
  10. ↑ He, Haobin; Gao, Zihan; Hu, Zehua; Cai, Linhao; Huang, Yanhua; Zhou, Meng; Liang, Rishen (2024-09-30). "Comparative characterization and phylogenetic analysis of complete mitogenome of three taxonomic confused groupers and the insight to the novel gene tandem duplication in Epinephelus". Frontiers in Marine Science. 11. Frontiers. doi: 10.3389/fmars.2024.1450003 . ISSN   2296-7745.
  11. ↑ Johnson, Jeffrey W.; Wilmer, Jessica Worthington (2019-09-25). "Epinephelus fuscomarginatus (Perciformes: Epinephelidae), a new species of grouper from off the Great Barrier Reef, Australia". Zootaxa. 4674 (3): 329–348. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4674.3.2. ISSN   1175-5334.
  12. ↑ Nakamura, Jumpei; Motomura, Hiroyuki (2021-04-01). "Epinephelus insularis, a new species of grouper from the western Pacific Ocean, and validity of E. japonicus (Temminck and Schlegel 1843), a senior synonym of Serranus reevesii Richardson 1846 and E. tankahkeei Wu et al. 2020 (Perciformes: Epinephelidae)". Ichthyological Research. 68 (2): 263–276. doi:10.1007/s10228-020-00790-2. ISSN   1616-3915.
  13. ↑ Wu, Haohao; Qu, Meng; Lin, Hungdu; Tang, Wei; Ding, Shaoxiong (2020-05-18). "Epinephelus tankahkeei, a new species of grouper (Teleostei, Perciformes, Epinephelidae) from the South China Sea". ZooKeys. 933: 125–137. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.933.46406 . ISSN   1313-2970. PMC   7248128 . PMID   32508492.
  14. ↑ "Epinephelus rankini Whitley, 1945, a valid species of grouper (Teleostei, Perciformes, Epinephelidae) from Western Australia and southeast Indonesia". Biodiversity Data Journal. 10. 2022-01-01. doi: 10.3897/BDJ.10.e90472 . ISSN   1314-2836.
  15. ↑ Nakamura, Jumpei; Motomura, Hiroyuki (2021-04-01). "Epinephelus insularis, a new species of grouper from the western Pacific Ocean, and validity of E. japonicus (Temminck and Schlegel 1843), a senior synonym of Serranus reevesii Richardson 1846 and E. tankahkeei Wu et al. 2020 (Perciformes: Epinephelidae)". Ichthyological Research. 68 (2): 263–276. doi:10.1007/s10228-020-00790-2. ISSN   1616-3915.
  16. ↑ "Epinephelus rankini Whitley, 1945, a valid species of grouper (Teleostei, Perciformes, Epinephelidae) from Western Australia and southeast Indonesia". Biodiversity Data Journal. 10. 2022-01-01. doi: 10.3897/BDJ.10.e90472 . ISSN   1314-2836.
  17. ↑ Bellia, Enrico; Cerasa, Giuliano; Cigna, Vincenzo; Brutto, Sabrina Lo; Massa, Bruno (2020-03-27). "Epinephelus sicanus (Doderlein, 1882) (Perciformes: Serranidae: Epinephelinae), a valid species of grouper from the Mediterranean Sea". Zootaxa. 4758 (1). doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4758.1.10. ISSN   1175-5334.
  18. ↑ Gaudant, Jean (2008). "Paléobiodiversité et paléoenvironnements: l'exemple des gisements de poissons téléostéens du Messinien préévaporitique d'Oran et du bassin du Chélif (Algérie)". Geodiversitas. 30 (1): 141–163.
  19. ↑ Zoological Record. J.V. Voorst. 1928.
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