Blacktip grouper

Epinephelinae which is part of the family Serranidae, which also includes the anthias and sea basses. It is found in the tropical Indo-Pacific region. It is the type species of the genus Epinephelus

caudal fin is moderately rounded. There are 49-75 scales in the lateral line.^[3] The colour is variable and ranges from pale greenish grey to pale reddish yellow to scarlet. They frequently have 5 or 6 faint dark bars, the final one being on the caudal peduncle. The scales on the upper body have a pale centre and dark rear margin, which creates am indistinct checked pattern. The outer membrane of the spiny part of the dorsal fin is black, or dark red in specimens from Western Australia and some from deep water. There is a pale yellow or white spot to the rear of the tip of each of the dorsal fin spines. This species attains a maximum total length of 40 centimetres (16 in), although a more common length is around 22 centimetres (8.7 in), and a weight of 2.0 kilograms (4.4 lb).^[2]

Mascarenes, Comoros and the Seychelles in the Indian Ocean as well.^[1] In Australia it occurs from the Houtman Abrolhos in Western Australia north around the tropical coastline and then as far south as Port Hacking in New South Wales. It can also be found on reefs in the Coral Sea, Elizabeth Reef, around Lord Howe Island in the Tasman Sea and Christmas Island.^[4] A single record was reported in 2012 from the eastern Mediterranean Sea, off Lebanon.^[5]

brackish water, sometimes in groups of 10-15 individuals.^[2][6] Juveniles may find shelter in mangrove swamps.^[7]

ciguatera poisoning.^[2]

parasites, including Pseudorhabdosynochus spp. (diplectanid Monogeneans) on the gills.^[8] The philometrid nematode Philometra fasciati is parasitic in the ovary of female fish;^[9]

naturalist Marcus Elieser Bloch (1723–1799) created the new genus Epinephelus when he described E. marginalis in 1793, however E. marginalis is a synonym of Perca fasciata^[12] and this means that this species is the type species of its genus.^[13]