Grouper & Seabass

Group 5: Heavy body / Large lips

Grouper & Seabass

Group 5 - Heavy body / Large lips : Heavy bodied, large lipped fish belong to the seabass family. We tend to refer to the larger seabasses as groupers and the smaller seabasses as bass or basslets. These fish are extremely important food fish and are under increasing threats from heavy fishing pressures. Monitoring these fish can help provide valuable data to aid in their protection. Most seabasses are hermaphrodites, meaning the same fish will be both a male and a female during its lifetime. The groupers are all born female and later change sex to become male. Most large groupers also congregate each year to spawn at a specific location, making them easy targets for emerging positioning and fishing technology.

Flag Cabrilla (cabrilla piedrera, Epinephelus labriformis)

The flag cabrilla is a
medium size seabass usually found in the one-foot size range. It often will rest motionless on the bottom and allow divers to approach closely. The key ID feature of this fish is the dark spot at the base of its tail. Think of it as the flag waving with the tail. (Size 8-14”, max. 21”)

Leopard Grouper (cabrilla sendinera, Mycteroperca rosacea)

The leopard grouper is also known as the golden grouper because of its sometimes bright golden color phase. When not golden, its body coloration is pale with net-like markings and small spots from mouth to tail. Never found resting on the bottom this grouper is much more wary than the cabrilla. (Size 1-2 feet, max. 3 ft)

Panamic Graysby (enjambre, Epinephelus panamensis)

The graysby is a smaller grouper often found sedentary near or on the bottom. The prominent ocellated spot behind the eye is the key to identification. Think of the spot as an island in Panama that has been grazed by a bullet. (Size 7-10”, max 12”)

Mutton Hamlet (guaseta, Alphestes afer)

The mutton hamlet is often found lying listlessly at the base of a small rock or crevice. Mottled marking with small speckles can help with the id as can the red iris of the eyes. The head also tends to be more sloped than other seabasses. This picture is of a young fish, the spots become more mottled and less bright in older fish. (Size 4-7”, max 10”)

Barred Serrano (guaseta serrano, Serranus psittacinus)

A very common small
seabass, the barred serrano tends to stay just above the bottom and move only short distances. The barred markings on the 4-6” slender body help make the id. (Size 3-5”, max 7”)

Creole Fish (rabirrubia de lo alto, Paranthias colonus)

Creolefish, though related to the seabasses, do not look or behave like their relatives. These fish tend to stay up in the water feeding on small plankton. The tail is much more crescent shaped than the broom-like seabasses and the body is streamlined for continuous swimming. The lavender color and reddish spot at the pectoral base are the keys to a positive ID. Think of the red spot as Tabasco sauce in creole cooking. (Size 4-7”, max. 14”)

Choose another fish Category

1. Disks and Ovals / Colorful

The first category of disk and oval shaped fish are very important to learn. They are colorful, large and very obvious and the three main families that make up the group can be found on almost every dive.

2. Silvery Fish

Silvery fish have many different family members, though we will look at just a few representatives. As opposed to the colorful butterfly, angel and surgeonfish, the silvery fish tend to blend in better in open water and are usually not found near the colorful bottom.

3. Sloping Head / Tapered Body

This third group of “fish-like” fish, are very important to learn. The are common on most dives and are also highly sought after as food fish. It is especially important to monitor these fish to provide data for fisheries management. Snappers can be very difficult to tell apart from the similarly shaped grunts. One helpful hint is to look at their tails. Snappers tend to have straight, flat tails. They are also known for their habit of snapping their mouth open and shut when caught on hook and line. They have very sharp canine teeth that can provide a nasty bite to the unsuspecting angler. Look closely on your next dive and you may see the small teeth protruding from the side of the mouth. Grunts on the other hand, have slightly notched tails. They get their name from the grunting sounds they emit when threatened. These sounds are created by rubbing together bony teeth plates located in the back of the throat. Since the teeth are in the throat, a diver will never see protruding teeth on a grunt, only big blubbery fish lips.

4. Small Ovals / Damselfish

While divers tend to first notice the larger, more obvious fish on a dive, after a short while the challenge to find new species leads them to change their search image to look for smaller, previously unnoticed fish. Generally, the first new species a diver will encounter will belong to the small oval shaped group. This group is broken into the damselfish and their close cousins the chromis. Damsels are like the surgeonfish in that they eat algae. They do not roam around grazing, but rather tend to small algae gardens like a farmer. These areas are guarded fiercely as the algae farm is the damsels food source. For that reason you can think of the damselfish as not just territorial, but Dam- selfish with its territory. Many damselfish have distinctly different colors as juveniles, often being much brighter and more colorful when they are young and becoming drab with age. (much like us humans!) For this reason, the juveniles have been heavily collected for the aquarium trade and are under heavy fishing pressure. As part of the REEF Fish Survey Project, divers are asked to monitor the juveniles and adults separately in two of the damselfish species – the Cortez damselfish and the giant damselfish.

5. Heavy Body / Large Lips

Heavy bodied, large lipped fish belong to the seabass family. We tend to refer to the larger seabasses as groupers and the smaller seabasses as bass or basslets. These fish are extremely important food fish and are under increasing threats from heavy fishing pressures. Monitoring these fish can help provide valuable data to aid in their protection. Most seabasses are hermaphrodites, meaning the same fish will be both a male and a female during its lifetime. The groupers are all born female and later change sex to become male. Most large groupers also congregate each year to spawn at a specific location, making them easy targets for emerging positioning and fishing technology.

6. Swim with Pectorals / Obvious Scales

The fish in this group all use their pectoral fins to swim with rather than the traditional tail swimming of most other fish. The scales are also quite large and obvious. These fish can also be hermaphrodites, like the groupers, with some fish changing sex and others staying the same. Intermediate and adult fish often have very different appearances compared to the always-male terminal phase. This means learning two colors to be able to ID the same species of fish. Most of the pictures shown in this curriculum are terminal phase males, unless noted.

7. Redish / Big Eyes

This group of reddish fish is normally not seen during day dives due to their nocturnal nature. The reddish color helps them blend in at night and the large eyes help them to see better.

8. Small, Elongated Bottom Dwellers

The small bottom dwelling fish often make up the most interesting fish to watch during your dive. Their approachable nature and interesting behaviors make them great fishwatching finds. Blennies tend to be slightly larger than gobies, but are most easily recognized by their curved body posture and expressive faces. Gobies, though similar in their habitat requirements, tend to sit flat and straight on the bottom. The jawfishes actually live in a burrow in the sand that they excavate and maintain.

9. Odd-Shaped Bottom-Dwellers

This category of fish is made up of families and species that didn’t quite fit anywhere else due to their unique body shapes.

10. Odd-Shaped Swimmers

This group of fish contain families that are unusual in their shape, but are swimmers rather than bottom dwellers.

11. Eels

Though looking like snakes, eels are fish. There are several different types of eels, and we will look at two – garden eels that live in burrows in the sand and moray eels. Moray eels have a bad reputation mainly due to the constant opening and closing of their sharp toothed mouths. However, this is not a threat to divers, as this action pumps water through their gills. Most eels are actually very shy.

12. Sharks & Rays

Even though the sharks and rays are cartilaginous (their skeletons are made of cartilage instead of bones), they are still referred to as fish and count during our surveys.

Fun Fact Grouper

5 Fun Facts - Groupers

Intriguing and diverse, groupers are not only impressive in size but also fascinating in their biology and behavior. There are approximately 160 species of groupers. Here's all you need to know about snappers, along with some fun facts:

Vocal Communication: Groupers are known to produce sounds, such as grunts and thumps, using their swim bladders. These vocalizations serve various purposes, including territorial defense and courtship.

Size Matters: Groupers are known for their impressive size. Some species can grow to be as large as 9 feet (2.7 meters) long and weigh up to 800 pounds (363 kilograms)! The Atlantic Goliath grouper is particularly famous for its massive size.

Changing Sex: Groupers are known for their ability to change their sex during their lifetime. They are protogynous hermaphrodites, meaning they start as females and may transform into males as they grow older and larger.

Longevity Champions: These fish are some of the longest-lived marine creatures. Some groupers can live for several decades, with some individuals reaching 50 years or more.

Master of Ambush: Groupers are skilled predators that employ an ambush hunting strategy. They patiently wait for their prey to come close and then use their powerful jaws to quickly engulf their meal.