''Plectropomus'', commonly known as the coral groupers, is a
genus of marine
ray-finned fish,
groupers from the
subfamily Epinephelinae
Groupers are fish of any of a number of genera in the subfamily Epinephelinae of the family Serranidae, in the order Perciformes.
Not all serranids are called "groupers"; the family also includes the sea basses. The common name "grouper" is u ...
, part of the
family Serranidae
The Serranidae are a large family of fishes belonging to the order Perciformes. The family contains about 450 species in 65 genera, including the sea basses and the groupers (subfamily Epinephelinae). Although many species are small, in some cas ...
, which also includes the
anthias
Anthias are members of the family Serranidae and make up the subfamily Anthiinae. Anthias make up a sizeable portion of the population of pink, orange, and yellow reef fishes seen swarming in most coral reef photography and film. The name Anth ...
and sea basses. They are found in the
Indo-Pacific region.
Habitat and biology
The ''Plectropomus'' coral groupers are ecologically similar to the species in the genera ''
Cephalolophis'' and ''
Mycteroperca
''Mycteroperca'' 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 foun ...
'', the latter being regarded as the Atlantic and eastern Pacific equivalents of the coral groupers. They are large groupers, with some species attaining
total lengths of at least , They prefer shallow tropical and subtropical waters where there are coral reefs and are less sedentary than the groupers in the genera ''
Epinephelus'' and ''Cephalopholis''. They are predatory species, preying largely on fish.
Distribution
''Plectropomus'' coral groupers are confined to the Indo-Pacific region where they are found from the
Red Sea and the east coast of Africa as far south as South Africa and east into the
Western Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...
as far as
Polynesia
Polynesia () "many" and νῆσος () "island"), to, Polinisia; mi, Porinihia; haw, Polenekia; fj, Polinisia; sm, Polenisia; rar, Porinetia; ty, Pōrīnetia; tvl, Polenisia; tkl, Polenihia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania, made up of ...
, north to Japan and south to Australia.
[
]
Utlisation
''Plectropomus'' coral groupers are very important to artisanal fisheries wherever they are found and they are caught using hook and line by spear fishing and trapping, however they are a frequent cause of ''Ciguatera
Ciguatera fish poisoning (CFP), also known simply as ciguatera, is a foodborne illness caused by eating reef fish whose flesh is contaminated with certain toxins. Such individual fish are said to be ciguatoxic. Symptoms may include diarrhea, vom ...
'' poisoning among consumers of their flesh.[
]
Species
The following eight species are classified within the genus ''Plectropomus'':
Species
Other authorities recognise ''Plectropomus marisrubri
''Plectropomus'', commonly known as the coral groupers, 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 found in the Indo-Pac ...
'', which Fishbase
FishBase is a global species database of fish species (specifically finfish). It is the largest and most extensively accessed online database on adult finfish on the web. treats as a synonym of ''P. pessuliferus'', as a valid species.,[
]
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q135409
Epinephelini
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot
Ray-finned fish genera