Honeycomb grouper
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Honeycomb grouper ( Epinephelus merra ) |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Epinephelus merra | ||||||||||||
| Bloch , 1793 |
The honeycomb grouper ( Epinephelus merra ), also called dwarf comb or Merra comb , occurs in the entire tropical and subtropical Indo-Pacific from South Africa to Lord Howe Island and French Polynesia , but not on the coasts of the Asian mainland, near Hawaii , Easter Island and in the Arabian Sea . It lives in sheltered reefs and shallow lagoons to a depth of no more than 50 meters, but mostly not below 20 meters. It is the most common type of grouper with a honeycomb pattern.
features
The fish are 23 to 31 centimeters long, are ocher-colored to light brown, with honeycomb-shaped, brown spots that can be fused into short chains. Up to five diagonal bands, which are formed from two to five rows of dark brown honeycombs, stretch across the flanks.
Fin formula : dorsal XI / 15-17, anal III / 8
Way of life
Young fish live hidden among branchy Acropora stone corals. They feed mainly on crabs (63% on stomach examinations) and fish (35%). Adult animals eat fish (68%), crabs (22%) and cephalopods (8%). You are not shy. Like all perch , the animals change sex in the course of their life. After reaching sexual maturity, they are initially female and, as they grow, transform into males. Honeycomb groupers with a length of 16 cm are still female, with a length of 20 cm almost all animals are male. On the Society Islands, the fish spawn from January to April. Spawning activities begin 2 to 3 days before the full moon in each of these months and last for 3 to 4 days.
literature
- Dieter Eichler, Robert F. Myers: Korallenfische Indopazifik , Jahr-Verlag GmbH & Co., 1997, ISBN 3-86132-225-0
- Ewald Lieske, Robert F. Myers: Coral fish of the world . Year Top Special Verlag Hamburg, 1994, ISBN 3-86132-112-2
- Baensch, Patzner: Mergus Sea Water Atlas Volume 7 Perciformes (perch-like) . Mergus-Verlag, Melle, 1998, ISBN 3-88244-107-0
Web links
- Honeycomb grouper on Fishbase.org (English)
- Epinephelus merra inthe IUCN 2013 Red List of Threatened Species . Posted by: Liu, M. & Yeeting, B., 2008. Retrieved January 26, 2014.