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Species: Hyporthodus mystacinus, Misty grouper

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tan + ~ 9 bars, last thick & dark
D XI

Hyporthodus mystacinus (Poey, 1852)

Misty grouper

Body robust, relatively deep and oval, compressed, deepest at origin of dorsal fin; large eyes; end of top jaw exposed; operculum edge with 3 flat spines; preoperculum without spines, lower corner rounded; 14-16 rakers on first gill arch; dorsal fin with XI spines (3rd  longest), 14-15 rays; anal fin with III spines, 9 rays; lateral line complete, ending at tail base, smoothly arched; large eyes; pelvics shorter than pectoral, inserted under pectoral base; scales rough, small, 58-69 on lateral line; tail rounded to bluntly straight.

Adult: Chocolate brown with pale spots and 9-10 dark bars on head and body, those on body extending onto dorsal and anal fins, last one on tail base widest and darkest; 3 oblique dark stripes on side of head -1 along top of upper jaw and on cheek, 2 behind eye and on operculum. Juvenile: like adult but also with a dark head, and a broad black bar across tail base.

Size: 115 cm.

Habitat: rocky reef.

Depth: 12-400 m.

A neotropical species; in the eastern Pacific known only from the Galapagos and Cocos..

Note: Previously in the genus Epinephelus.


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Salinity
  • Marine Only
  • Marine
Inshore/Offshore
  • Inshore
  • Inshore Only
Water Column Position
  • Bottom
  • Bottom only
Habitat
  • Reef (rock/coral/oyster)
  • Rocks
  • Reef only
  • Reef associated (reef + edges-water column & soft bottom)
FishBase Habitat
  • Bathydemersal
Feeding Group
  • Data
  • Carnivore
Diet
  • Bony fishes
  • Data
  • Octopus/squid/cuttlefish
  • Mobile benthic crustacea (shrimps/crabs)
Egg Type
  • Pelagic larva
  • No data
  • Pelagic
Global Endemism
  • New world (East Pacific + West Atlantic)
  • All species
  • East Pacific + Atlantic (East +/or West)
  • Transisthmian (East Pacific + Atlantic of Central America)
  • TEP non-endemic
Regional Endemism
  • Island (s)
  • Island (s) only
  • Tropical Eastern Pacific (TEP) non-endemic
  • Eastern Pacific non-endemic
  • All species
Residency
  • Resident
Climate Zone
  • Equatorial (Costa Rica to Ecuador + Galapagos, Clipperton, Cocos, Malpelo)
IUCN Red List
  • Least concern
  • Listed
CITES
  • Not listed
Length Max
  • 100
Depth Range Min
  • 20
Depth Range Max
  • 400