The slender grouper (''Anyperodon leucogrammicus'') is a species of marine
ray-finned fish
Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fish or actinopterygians, is a class of bony fish that comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species. They are so called because of their lightly built fins made of webbings of sk ...
, a
grouper
Groupers are a diverse group of marine ray-finned fish in the family Epinephelidae, in the order Perciformes.
Groupers were long considered a subfamily of the seabasses in Serranidae, but are now treated as distinct. Not all members of this f ...
from the
subfamily
In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end botanical subfamily names with "-oideae", and zo ...
Epinephelinae
Groupers are a diverse group of marine Actinopterygii, ray-finned fish in the family Epinephelidae, in the order Perciformes.
Groupers were long considered a subfamily of the seabasses in Serranidae, but are now treated as distinct. Not all m ...
which is part of the
family
Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...
Serranidae
Serranidae is a large family (biology), 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, ...
, which also includes the
anthias and sea basses. It is the only species in the
genus
Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...
''Anyperodon''. It is found in the
Indo-Pacific
The Indo-Pacific is a vast biogeographic region of Earth. In a narrow sense, sometimes known as the Indo-West Pacific or Indo-Pacific Asia, it comprises the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean, the western and central Pacific Ocean, and the ...
region.
Systematics
Recent molecular analyses based on five genes show that ''Anyperodon leucogrammicus'' is included in the same clade as species of ''
Epinephelus
''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 fo ...
''. Consequently, the species should be included in ''Epinephelus'' as ''Epinephelus leucogrammicus''.
Description
The slender grouper is a medium-sized fish growing to a length of about . The head occupies 40% of the total length and the mouth is large, with the lower jaw longer than the upper jaw. There are no
palatine teeth, a fact which distinguishes this species from other groupers. The basic colour is pale reddish-brown liberally dotted with orange spots which are closer together on the head. There are five pale silvery blue longitudinal lines running down either side, the lower 3 reaching the tail but the upper two breaking into irregular streaks. The dorsal fin has 11 spines and 14 to 16 soft rays. The anal fin has 3 spines and 8 to 9 soft rays.
[ Juvenile fish have vivid blue and red longitudinal stripes.][
]
Distribution and habitat
The slender grouper has a wide distribution in the tropical Indian and Pacific Oceans. The range extends from the east coast of Africa and the Red Sea at 32°E to southern Japan and Australia at 171°W. It is found on coral reefs and seaward reef slopes and in lagoons at depths down to or occasionally .[ and can found in Andaman Sea.
]
Ecology
The slender grouper is carnivorous
A carnivore , or meat-eater (Latin, ''caro'', genitive ''carnis'', meaning meat or "flesh" and ''vorare'' meaning "to devour"), is an animal or plant whose nutrition and energy requirements are met by consumption of animal tissues (mainly mu ...
, feeding mainly on other fish such as goatfish
The goatfishes are ray-finned fish of the family Mullidae, the only family in the suborder Mulloidei of the order Syngnathiformes. The family is also sometimes referred to as the red mullets, which also refers more narrowly to the genus '' Mul ...
but possibly also on invertebrate
Invertebrates are animals that neither develop nor retain a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''spine'' or ''backbone''), which evolved from the notochord. It is a paraphyletic grouping including all animals excluding the chordata, chordate s ...
s. Juvenile slender groupers are aggressive mimics of the red-lined wrasse, '' Halichoeres biocellatus'' and the silty wrasse, '' Halichoeres purpurescens''.[ They resemble them in appearance and in behaviour which lulls a potential prey fish into a false sense of security and enables the grouper to approach it without detection.Aggressive mimicry]
The Gale Encyclopedia of Science. Retrieved 2012-04-19.
Status
The slender grouper is considered of "least concern" by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. This is because it has a very wide range and populations do not seem to be in decline.Hong Kong
Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...
.[
]
Utilization
* Fishery : Small Trade
* Game: Angling
References
External links
*
*
External links
*
{{Taxonbar, from1=Q4650659, from2=Q2306626
Epinephelini
Fish of Thailand
Fish described in 1828