Epinephelus malabaricus, Bloch & Schneider 1801
Near threatened by IUCN Red List, IUCN Grouper and Wrasse specialist group.
Hatchery produced juveniles may use for mariculture practices instead of harvesting live juveniles from wild.
Major threats are anthropogenic. Trawl and line fishing along reef and muddy bottoms are main fishing threats. Trwal fishery removes many small juveniles. Also removal of small juveniles from wild for culture activities like pond and cage culture. Habitat loss includes loss in mangrove belts, dustructive fishing methods in coral reefs for live fishes, industrilisation in coastal belts. Sannadurgappa (2010) observed that E. malabaricus was disappeared due to overgrowing populations and human activities on Aghanashini estuary ecosystem, South India
Population of E. malabaricus will be decreasing
From Talwar & Kacker (1984) and Heemstra & Randall (1993)
A large serranid fish with elongate body. Body depth contained 3.0 to 3.7 times in standard length (for fish 15 to 69 cm standard length) body width contained 1.4 to 1.9 times in the depth. Head length contained 2.3 to 2.6 times in standard length, snout length contained 1.7 to 2.0 times in upper jaw length interorbital width contained 4.5 to 6.5 times in head length and 2.1 to 3.0 times in upper jaw length. Interorbital area flat or slightly convex Preopercle boredr rounded with enlarged serrae at the angle. Upper edge of operculum almoststraight with 3 flat spines. Nostrils subequal, except in large adults which have the posterior nostrils slightly larger. Maxilla extends past vertical at rear edge of orbit, maxilla width 4.5 to 6.5 % of standard length, upper jaw length 17 to 22% of standard length, midlateral part of lower jaw with 2 to 5 rows of teeth. A pair of short canines on each side of symphysis in each jaw. Gill rakers 8 to 11 on upper limb, 14 to 18 on lower limb, 23 to 27 total. Rudiments difficult to distinguish from small bony platelets on outer face of first gill arch. Lateral-body scales ctenoid (54 to 64), with auxiliary scales. Anterior lateral-line tubes of large adults with 2 to 4 branches, lateral-scale series 101 to 117. Pyloric caeca numerous (more than 80 branches).
Taxonomic relationship among seven species of groupers was revealed by Govindaraju and Jayasankar (2004) using RAPD fingerprinting. E. malabaricus was most distantly related to E. diacanthus and E. bleekeri. The genetic relationship was very close among E. coioides, E. tauvina, and E. malabaricus. In E. malabaricus all 24 pairs of chromosomes are acrocentric (including the smallest pair no. 24) and the NOR (nucleolar organizer regions) is located in the subcentromeric region of pair no. 24. Second, their C-banding patterns are different, all chromosomes are C-positive at centromeric regions, with extra heterochromatin regions covering the whole arms of pair no. 24 (Wang et al., 2010).
Morphologically E. coioides looks more similar to the E. malabaricus.
Dorsal fin with 11 spines and 15 or 16 soft rays. the last spine considerably shorter than third spine. Anal fin with 3 spines and 8 rays. Pectoral fin as long as postorbital part of head. CAudal fin rounded. Body color mostly brownish with very small blackish spots on body, head and fins. Spots on head widly separated. Five dark cross bands on body, distinct in young fishes but indistinct in large adults.
Max reported size is 234 cm, while commonly occurs in length of 100 cm. Max reported weight is 150 kg.
Copepoda, Isopoda, Nematoda, Myxosporea, Monogenea, Digenea, Cestoda, Acanthocephala
E. malabaricus is known from the Red Sea and Indo-Pacific area (South Africa to Japan, Australia, Palau, Yap and Fiji). Gulf of Aqaba, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya,\ Zanzibar, Tanzania, Mozambique, Oman, Madagascar, Comoros, Seychelles, India, Sri Lanka, Andaman Islands, Indonesia, Singapore, Philippines, Taiwan, China, Papua New Guinea, New Ireland, Caroline Islands, New Caledonia, and Tonga. In Australia, it occurs from the Northern Territory to New South Wales.
Common species found in a variety of habitats: coral and rocky reefs, tide pools, estuaries, mangrove swamps and sandy or mud bottom from shore to depths of 150 m. Juveniles found near shore and in estuaries.
Age of maturation is more than 5 years. Protogynous hermaphrodiets, fertilization occurs externally, nonguarders, open water egg scatterers.
Tertiary consumer. Trophic level above 4
Iridovirus disease was reported from cultured E. malabaricus Thailand (Danayadol et al., 1997 & Kasornchandra and Khongpradit, 1997). Fish lymphocystis disease (FLD) was reported in marine net cage cultured e. malabaricus in China (Yogija, 1992) and in South east Asia (Chang & Chao, 1984). Kanchanakhan et al. 2005 reported betanodavirus belonging to the genotype of red spotted grouper nervous necrosis virus (RGNNV) in cultured E. malabaricus in Thailand. Mortality due to possible ammonia poisoning was observed at Tuticorin bay, East coast of India (Asha et al., 2009). Blister Disease cause due to iridovirus was observed in Thailand (Kongpradit et al., 1997). Red Seabream Iridovirus Disease (RSIVD) causative agent is Red seabream iridovirus (RSIV) 130-196 nm in size (Sano et al., 2002). Grouper Iridovirus Disease of Taiwan (TGIVD) irridovirus size200-240 nm. Fingerling to spawnner size E. malabaricus infected with Grouper Spawner Iridovirus Disease (GSIVD) in which size of iridovirus is 120-135 nm.
Wide variety of parasites were reported from E. malabaricus at different locations in both wild and cultured fishes.
Parasite group
Species
Location
Reference
Acanthocephala
Acanthocephalus sp.
(Koelreuther, 1771)
Malaysia
Leong and Wong (1988)
Cestoda
Tetraphyllidae sp. us
Malaysia S
Thailand
Leong and Wong (1988)
Chinabut (1998)
Copepoda
Caligus acanthopagris
Lin, Ho & Chen 2000
Taiwan
Ho et al. 2000
Caligus epidemicus Hewitt, 1971
Taiwan
Roubal (1995)
Caligus orientalis Gussev, 1951
Kenkyu
Urawa and Kato 1991
Caligus punctatus Shiino, 1955
Taiwan
Lin et al. (1996)
Caligus rotundigenitalis Yu, 1933
Caligus sp. (Muller, 1785)
Thailand
Indonesia
Malaysia
Chinabut (1998)
koesharyani et al. (1999a)
Leong and Wong (1990)
Ergasilus borneoensis
Yamaguti, 1954
Malaysia
Leong and Wong (1988)
Ergasilus lobus (Lin, 1997)
Taiwan
Lin and Ho 1998
Lepeoptheirus sp.
Philippines
Koesharyani and Yuasa (2001)
Thebius sp.
Thailand
Chinabut (1996)
Digenea
Allopodocotyle serrani
Yamaguti, 1942
Malaysia
Leong and Wong (1988)
Cardicola sp. (Short, 1952)
Thailand
Malaysia
Chinabut (1998)
Leong and Wong (1988)
Ectenurus sp. (Looss, 1907)
Erilepturus hamati (Yamaguti, 1934)
Malaysia
Leong and Wong (1988)
Gonapodasmius sp. (Justine, 1981)
Thailand
Chinabut (1998)
Helicometrina nimia Linton, 1910
Malaysia
Leong and Wong (1990)
Lecithochirium neopacificum
Velasquez, 1962
Thailand
Malaysia
Chinabut (1998)
Leong and Wong (1988)
Prosorhynchus maternus
Bray and Justine, 2006
New Caledonia
Bray and Justine, 2006
Prosorhynchus pacificum
Manter 1940
India
Malaysa
Thailand
Hafeezullah and Siddiqi (1970)
Leong and Wong (1988)
Chinabut (1998)
Pseudometadena celebesensis
Yamaguti, 1952
Malaysia
Leong and Wong (1988)
Pseudopecoeloides sp. (Yamaguti, 1940)
Thailand
Chinabut (1998)
Stephanostomum sp. (Looss, 1899)
Malaysia
Leong and Wong (1988)
Telorhynchus arripidis Crowcroft, 1947
Red Sea
Shalaby and Hassanine (1996)
Isopoda
Gnathia sp.
Thailand
Chinabut (1998)
Monogenea
Benedenia lutjani
(Whittington and Kearn, 1993)
Thailand
Leong (2001)
Cycloplectanum epinepheli
(Yamaguti 1938)
Thailand
Chinabut (1998)
Dactylogyrus sp. Diesing, 1850
Thailand
Ruangpan and Rungsichai (1993)
Danayadol (1999)
Diplectanum grouperi
Leong, Wong, Woo e Foo, 1999
Thailand
Leong (2001)
Gyrodactylus sp. Nordmann, 1832
Thailand
Chinabut (1998)
Haliotrema sp.
Johnston and Tiegs, 1922
Philippines
Koesharyani and Yuasa (2001)
Megalocotyloides convolute
Thailand
Leong (2001)
Megalocotyloides epinepheli
(Bychowsky and Nagibina, 1976)
Malaysia
Thailand
Leong and Wong (1988)
Leong 2001
Neobenedenia girellae (Hargis, 1955)
Thailand
Philippines
Leong (2001)
Koesharyani and Yuasa (2001)
Neobenedenia sp. (Yamaguti, 1963)
Thailand
Leong (2001)
Pseudorhabdosynochus coioidesis
Bu, Leong, Wong, Woo e Foo, 1999
Pseudorhabdosynochus epinepheli
Yamaguti,1958
Malaysia
Thailand
Leong and Wong (1988)
Chinabut (1998)
Pseudorhabdosynochus lanteuensis
Thailand
Leong (2001)
Pseudorhabdosynochus sp. Yamaguti, 1958
Philippines
Koesharyani and Yuasa (2001)
Pseudorhabdosynochus manifestus n. sp
Pseudorhabdosynochus malabaricus n. sp.
Pseudorhabdosynochus maternus n. sp
Pseudorhabdosynochus manipulus n. sp
Pseudorhabdosynochus marcellus n. sp
Pseudorhabdosynochus maaensis n. sp.
Pseudorhabdosynochus cf. shenzhenensis
Yang, Zeng & Gibson, 2005
New Caledonia
Justine and Sigura, 2007
Nematoda
Contracaecum sp. (Railliet and Henry, 1912)
Echinocephalus sp. (Rüppell, 1830)
Malaysia
Leong and Wong (1988)
Raphidascaris sp. (larva)
Thailand
Malaysia
Chinabut (1998)
Leong and Wong (1990)
Myxosporea Sphaerospora epinepheli n. sp.
Thailand
Supamattaya et al., 1991
Excellent food fish, common in markets. Used in marine aquariums. Widely used in mariculture mainly in the Far East. A fine game fish.
English : Malabar grouper, Malabar reef cod
West coast of India
East coast of India
Marathi : Hekaru, Gobra
Gujarathi : Wekhanu
Konkani : Gobri
Kannada : Gopra, Muni meenu
Malayalam : Kalawa
Tamil : Kalava
Telugu : Kodi punju, Bontha
Oriya : Bhala
Holocentrus malabaricus Bloch and Schneider, 1801:319,pl. 63 (type locality: Tranquebar, India)
From Talwar and Kacker, 1984
Caudal fin rounded.....
Pectoral fins rather short as long as or shorter than postorbital part of head......
Last dorsal fin spine considerably short than third dorsal spine......
Middle opercular spine about equidistant from lower and upper ones......
Pored scales in lateral line 56 to 61, small blackish spots on body, spots on head very small and widly seprated, five dark cross bands distinct in youngs, pectoral fins pale, with dark spots.......
Teleost fishes, benthic crusteceans such as juvenile crabs, shrimps and squilla. Some time eat cephalopods.
E. malabaricus is one of the most important groupers in fisheries of the Indo-Pacific region. About 5% of grouper fishery comprises by this species along Calicut, Malabar coast, West coast of India (Manojkumar, 2005). Speciemnswith 45 cm size are more common in the commercial catches along Indian coast. It is caught with trawls, longlines, traps, spear and hook-and-line.
Epinephelus abdominalis, non Peters, 1855 (MN)
Serranus crapao Cuvier, 1829 (JS)
Epinephelus cylindricus Postel. 1965 (JS)
Serranus estuarius Macleay, 1883 (AS)
Epinephelus malabaricus Talwar and Jhingran, 1991
Serranus malabaricus Day, 1875
Epinephelus salmonoides, Valenciennes, 1828 (JS)
Serranus polypodophilus Bleeker, 1849 (JS)
Epinephelus tauvina non Forsskal, 1775 (MN)
Cephalopholis malabaricus Bloch & Schneider, 1801 (SS)
Holocentrus malabaricus Bloch & Schneider, 1801 (SS)
Epinephelus salmoides Lacepede, 1802 (JS)
Holocentrus salmoides Lacepede, 1802 (JS)
JS= Junior synonym, SS= Senior synonym, AS= Ambiguous synonym, MN= Misapplied name