NEARTHREATENED
Description
The brown-marbled grouper is a robust marine fish, with a pale yellowish-brown, scaled body, covered with large, irregular, dark brown blotches. The head, back and sides are also covered with close-set tiny brown spots. The head profile is slightly indented at the eye, and then curves out towards the start of the dorsal fin. The tail, or caudal, fin is rounded.
Mero Manchado
Size
Length: up to 1 m
Weight 11 kg
Habitat
The brown-marbled grouper inhabits shallow water over coral reefs and rocky bottoms, in areas of rich coral growth and clear water, down to depths of 60 meters. Juveniles are found in areas of seagrass.
Status
Threats
The brown-marbled grouper is an important component of regional fisheries, and several biological characteristics of this species result in it being particularly vulnerable to over-fishing. As it forms spawning aggregations it is an easy and attractive target for fishermen; the long lifespan means that the population can take many years to recover if numbers become depleted; it is greatly threatened by the trend of fishermen to target larger fish. The large individuals of a population includes all the males that are vital to maintain the sex ratio, as well as important female breeders that are highly fertile and contribute a substantial proportion of young to the population for many years. Removing all the large individuals from the population can have devastating consequences. The destruction of seagrass beds and coral reefs due to human activities also poses a threat to the survival of this species.
