Epinephelus fuscoguttatus

The brown-marbled grouper or tiger grouper (Epinephelus fuscoguttatus) is a benthic marine fish which belongs to the family Serranidae or also known as the groupers. Epinephelus fuscoguttatus is a medium-sized fish which grows up to 120 cm, but the average size mostly observed is 50 cm. Its body has a stocky and robust aspect, is compressed laterally and has a sharp profile for the head. The mouth is big and has a superior position with many small teeth and canine in front. The background coloration is pale yellowish-brown with many irregular in size and shape dark brown or Grey blotches.The body is also covered with many small dark brown spots. All the fins are large and round. The brown-marbled grouper can be easily confused with its close relative Epinephelus polyphekadion. The differences are more obvious on adults specimen. The distinctive characters of the brown-marbled grouper are: a small black saddle on the top of caudal peduncle, when observed on the side a notch above the eyes and the front head is clearly visible, its body is quite thick from the front of the dorsal fin to the bottom of the fish below the pectoral fins. It is widely distributed throughout the tropical and subtropical waters of the Indo-Pacific, from eastern coasts of Africa to the oceanic islands of the centre of the Pacific Ocean, Red Sea included. However, it's absent from the Persian Gulf, Hawaii and French Polynesia. Like many of the groupers, the brown-marbled grouper lives in rich clear waters close to coral or rocky reefs, lagoons and external slopes from the surface until 60 metres (200 ft) depth. The brown-marbled grouper is carnivorous and its diet consists mainly in fishes, crustaceans and cephalopods, it's an ambush predator. This grouper is solitary, sedentary, it defends a well defined territory, benthic and has an nocturnal which can be maximal at sunrise and/or at sunset. It has a quite long life span for a fish, it can expect to live until at least 40 years old.