Blacktip Grouper

The blacktip grouper (Epinephelus fasciatus), also known as the blacktip grouper, sometimes has yellow-red or brick coloration without vertical stripes, but most often it has 5 wide dark vertical stripes on the body, which are more visible at the base of the dorsal fin.

A distinctive feature of these groupers is the noticeable black triangular spots behind the tip of each hard ray of the dorsal fin. The eyes have a narrow black ring.

This species can exhibit simultaneous hermaphroditism in smaller individuals, while larger individuals usually lose the female function.

The blacktip grouper has a wide Indo-Pacific distribution. Its range extends from the Red Sea to the Eastern Cape in South Africa, east to the Pitcairn Islands, north to southern Japan and Korea, and south to New Caledonia and Australia. It is found in Madagascar, the Mascarene Islands, the Comoros, and the Seychelles in the Indian Ocean. In Australia, it occurs from Ooutman Abrolhos in Western Australia north along the tropical coast and south to Port Hacking in New South Wales. It can also be found on reefs in the Coral Sea, on Elizabeth Reef, around Lord Howe Island in the Tasman Sea, and on Christmas Island. One record was reported in 2012 from the eastern Mediterranean, off Lebanon.

The blacktip grouper feeds on crustaceans and small fish, ambushing them. It inhabits coral reefs from depths of 4 m (usually from 15 m) to 160 m, in both marine and brackish water, sometimes in groups of 10-15 individuals. Juveniles may find shelter in mangrove swamps.