Species: Mycteroperca venenosa, Yellowfin grouper
pectoral: outer 1/3 abruptly yellow
Mycteroperca venenosa (Linnaeus, 1758)
Yellowfin grouper
Body elongate, robust, compressed, depth at dorsal origin not greater than at anal origin; snout much longer than eye; in adult rear nostril 1-2X times size of front nostril; lower jaw projecting; rear of top jaw exposed when mouth closed, without accessory bone above it; teeth depressible; canines at front of jaws; preopercle serrated at rounded lower corner, without or with a slight notch above serrated corner; gill rakers, including rudiments 24-27, 17-18 below; dorsal fin with XI spines, indented between spines, 15-16 rays, rear edge rounded; anal fin with III spines, 11-12 rays, rear edge rounded; tail straight in juvenile, slightly concave in adult; scales on side of body rough in juvenile, smooth in adult and with numerous small auxiliary scales; 72-81 scales on lateral line.
Adult: head and body densely covered with red-brown to dark brown spots, a network of pale lines outlines irregular elongate dark (brown to reddish) blotches on upper body, and wavy lines on flank; pectoral with base with irregular dark spots, outer 1/3 abruptly yellow; outer parts of soft dorsal, soft anal and tail fins dark.
Reaches 100 cm.
Adults on reefs and sometimes on mud bottoms; juveniles in seagrass beds.
Depth range: 2-272 m.
Bermuda to Brazil.
High Resolution Map Download
- Salinity
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- Marine Only
- Marine
- Inshore/Offshore
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- Inshore Only
- Inshore
- Water Column Position
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- Bottom
- Habitat
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- Reef and soft bottom
- Mud
- Submerged vegetation
- Reef (rock/coral/oyster)
- Reef associated (reef + edges-water column & soft bottom)
- Soft bottom (mud/sand/gravel/beach/estuary/mangrove/seagrass)
- FishBase Habitat
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- Reef Associated
- Feeding Group
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- Data
- Carnivore
- Diet
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- Data
- Mobile benthic crustacea (shrimps/crabs)
- Octopus/squid/cuttlefish
- Bony fishes
- Egg Type
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- Data
- Pelagic
- Pelagic larva
- Global Endemism
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- Greater Caribbean non-endemic
- West Atlantic Endemic
- All species.
- Regional Endemism
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- Extends South of GC
- Continent
- Continent + Island (s)
- Island (s)
- All species..
- GC non-endemic
- Also in Brazil
- Residency
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- Resident
- Climate Zone
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- Subtropical (23-35N, Florida / Carolinas / Bermuda)
- Tropical (10-23N, Nicaragua / Cuba)
- Equatorial (0-10N, Costa Rica / Venezuela)
- IUCN Red List
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- Listed
- Near threatened
- CITES
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- Not listed
- Length Max
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- 100
- Depth Range Min
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- 2
- Depth Range Max
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- 272
