Graysby
Epinephelus cruentatus
(Lacépède, 1802)

Description:
Body strong and stout, with a large mouth. Light reddish brown to gray, with darker orangish brown spots. Can change color, pale or darken (E. cruentatus 3). Three to five contrasting pale or dark spots along the base of the dorsal fin. Tail rounded.
Juveniles grayish, with a yellow wash over the head and back. A white band runs from the nape, between the eyes, to the lower lip. Like the adult, with three to five contrasting pale or dark spots along the base of the dorsal fin.
Size up to 42.5 cm.

Habitat:
Inhabits seagrass beds and coral reefs, common between 3 and 20 m. A solitary and secretive fish that usually stay near hiding places during day. A nocturnal predator, adults feed mainly on fish, juveniles feed on shrimps. The prey drawn into their gullets by a powerful suction created when they open their large mouths. Held securely by thousands of small, rasp-like teeth that cover the jaws, tongue and palate, the prey is swallowed whole. Groupers are hermaphroditic, beginning life as females, but changing to males with maturity.

Distribution:
Common South Florida, Bahamas and Caribbean.

Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Chordata
Superclass Pisces
Class Osteichthyes
Family Serranidae
Genus Epinephelus
Species Epinephelus cruentatus

Status in World Register of Marine Species

Synonym of Cephalopholis cruentata (Lacepède, 1802)

Scientific synonyms and common names

Graysby [English]
Coné essaim [French]
Purunchi (Graysby) [Papiamentu]
Purunchi kabritoe [Papiamentu]

Humann, P., 1989. Reef Fish Identification - Florida Caribbean Bahamas, (ed. N. Deloach). New World Publications, Inc., Paramount Miller Graphics, Inc., Jacksonville, Florida.

Nagelkerken, W., 1980. Coral Reef Fishes of Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao. Published by the Island Territory of Curacao.

Nagelkerken, W.P., 1981. Distribution and ecology of the Groupers (Serranidae) and Snappers (Lutjanidae) of the Netherlands Antilles. Publications of the foundation for scientific research in Surinam and the Netherlands Antilles, 107(3).

You can continue searching for Epinephelus cruentatus on one of these Web sites:

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