Epinephelus malabaricus
Blackspotted Rockcod | Estuary Cod | Greasy Grouper | Malabar Cod | Malabar Grouper | Malabar Rockcod | Morgan's Cod | Speckled Grouper
Similar Species
Same Genus
Distribution
Tropical Indo-Pacific
Description
Five dark broken bars extend obliquely across body, similar to E. coioides (Goldspotted Rockcod), but with darker body, and black rather than orange/brown spots. Length to 240 cm.
Information
Max Size: 234 cm
Sea Temperature Range: 22.4-31.4°C
Depth: 0-150m
Habitat Generalization Index: 4.41
Also referred to as the SGI (Species Generalisation Index), this describes the habitat niche breadth of the species. Species with values less than 15 are found in a relatively narrow range of reef habitat types (specialists), while those over 25 may be found on most hard substrates within their range (generalists). Learn more here.
Conservation and Rarity
IUCN Status: Near Threatened
Occurrence: Infrequent (3.8% of sites)
Occurrence describes how often the species is found on surveys within its distribution. It is calculated as the % of reef sites surveyed by RLS divers across all the ecoregions in which the species has been observed
Abundance: Solitary (1 per transect)
Abundance is calculated as the average number of individuals recorded per RLS transect, where present.
Edit by: Joe Shields