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Perciformes/Serranoidei (Groupers) >
Epinephelidae (Groupers)
Etymology: Epinephelus: Greek, epinephelos = cloudy (Ref. 45335); insularis: Name from Latin 'insularis', referring to the species’ habitat, mainly inhabiting insular regions.
Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range
Ecology
Marine; reef-associated; depth range 120 - 300 m (Ref. 123820). Tropical
Western Pacifc: southern Japan to Timor Sea (Scott Reef, Western Australia); including the South China Sea, Indonesia, Micronesia and New Caledonia.
Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm ? range ? - ? cm
Max length : 52.8 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 123820)
Short description
Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics
Dorsal spines (total): 11; Dorsal soft rays (total): 16 - 17; Anal spines: 3; Anal soft rays: 8. This species is distinguished by the following set of characters: D XI,16 (rarely XI,17); A III,8; pectoral-fin rays 18; lateral-line scales 48-52 (modally 48 and 50); longitudinal scale series 114-132 (120 and 128); total gill rakers 21-24 (22); body deep, its depth 30.7-42.7 (mean 35.3) % SL; the 1st to 3rd dorsal-fn spine lengths gradually increasing, 3rd or 4th (rarely 5th) spine longest; anal-fin posterior margin is rounded; caudal fin truncate, the posterior margin with narrow white line; head, body, and all fins have small polygonal brown spots (smaller than pupil, expanded on head and body undersurface) on pale background, forming a reticulate pattern; pectoral fin is brown, with its margin yellow when fresh (brownish in preserved specimens) (Ref. 123820)..
Life cycle and mating behavior
Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae
Nakamura, J. and H. Motomura, 2021. Epinephelus insularis, a new species of grouper form the western Pacific Ocean and validity of E. japonicus (Temminck and Schlegel 1843), a senior synonym of Serranus reevesii Richardson 1846 and E. tonkahkeei Wu et al. 2020 (Perciformes: Epinephelidae). Ichthyol. Res. (Ref. 123820)
IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2024-1)
Threat to humans
Harmless
Human uses
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Internet sources
Estimates based on models
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref.
82804): PD
50 = No PD50 data [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.01175 (0.00568 - 0.02430), b=3.04 (2.88 - 3.20), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this Genus-body shape (Ref.
93245).
Trophic level (Ref.
69278): 3.9 ±0.6 se; based on size and trophs of closest relatives
Resilience (Ref.
120179): Low, minimum population doubling time 4.5 - 14 years (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref.
59153): Moderate to high vulnerability (46 of 100).
