Epinephelus malabaricus

Blackspotted Rockcod | Estuary Cod | Greasy Grouper | Malabar Cod | Malabar Grouper | Malabar Rockcod | Morgan's Cod | Speckled Grouper
Epinephelus malabaricus
Epinephelus malabaricus, adult, Photo: Rick Stuart-Smith
Epinephelus malabaricus
Epinephelus malabaricus, adult, Gulf of Carpentaria, QLD, Photo: Andrew Green
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Epinephelus malabaricus
Epinephelus malabaricus

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 (3.4% 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