Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range
Ecology
Marine; reef-associated; depth range 10 - 40 m (Ref. 5222). Subtropical; 33°N - 29°S, 98°W - 33°W (Ref. 5222)
Western Atlantic: southern Florida (USA) and the Gulf of Mexico to Brazil. It was suggested that Mycteroperca tigris was a transient species in the northwestern Gulf of Mexico, but has recently become abundant on the Flower Garden Banks off Texas (Ref. 6887).
Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm 46.0, range 34 - ? cm
Max length : 101 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 26340); common length : 40.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 5217); max. published weight: 10.0 kg (Ref. 5222)
Dorsal spines (total): 11; Dorsal soft rays (total): 15 - 17; Anal spines: 3; Anal soft rays: 11. Distinguished by the following characteristics: Back crossed by about 11 pale narrow lines that slope downward and forward. No other grouper in the Caribbean has the same pattern of narrow pale diagonal lines (Ref. 26938). Further characterized by having depth of body contained 3.1-3.6 times in SL; head length 2.5-2.8 times in SL; flat interorbital area; rounded preopercle, without lobe at angle; diameter of posterior nostrils 3-5 times larger than anterior ones; large teeth, well developed canines (Ref. 89707).
A solitary species (Ref. 26340) occurring in coral reefs and rocky areas. It is considered an ambush predator that hides among the coral and sponges and is easy to approach. Frequents cleaning stations (Ref. 9710). The size versus sex distribution of Bermuda population indicates that this species is a protogynous hermaphrodite; all fish less than 37 cm TL were females and all fish larger than 45 cm TL were males (Ref. 6886). Randall (Ref. 33) reported food of 59 specimens 15 to 57 cm SL were purely fishes of a variety of species.
Life cycle and mating behavior
Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae
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: Version 2024-1)
Threat to humans
Reports of ciguatera poisoning (Ref. 30911)
Human uses
Fisheries: commercial; gamefish: yes; aquarium: public aquariums
Tools
Special reports
Download XML
Internet sources
Estimates based on models
Preferred temperature (Ref.
123201): 24.7 - 28, mean 27 °C (based on 148 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref.
82804): PD
50 = 0.5000 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.01122 (0.00647 - 0.01946), b=3.06 (2.91 - 3.21), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species & Genus-body shape (Ref.
93245).
Trophic level (Ref.
69278): 4.5 ±0.8 se; based on diet studies.
Generation time: 10.0 ( na - na) years. Estimated as median ln(3)/K based on 1
growth studies.
Resilience (Ref.
120179): Low, minimum population doubling time 4.5 - 14 years (K=0.11; tm=6.5-9.5).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref.
59153): High vulnerability (64 of 100).
Nutrients (Ref.
124155): Calcium = 13.3 [7.5, 27.5] mg/100g; Iron = 0.455 [0.229, 0.802] mg/100g; Protein = 19.4 [17.6, 21.1] %; Omega3 = 0.192 [0.110, 0.338] g/100g; Selenium = 16.8 [7.6, 35.7] μg/100g; VitaminA = 71.6 [22.0, 263.4] μg/100g; Zinc = 0.511 [0.329, 0.788] mg/100g (wet weight);
