Areolate grouper facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Areolate grouper |
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| Epinephelus areolatus from off New Caledonia | |
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The areolate grouper (Epinephelus areolatus) is a type of fish that lives in the ocean. It's also known by other names like the yellowspotted rockcod or squaretail grouper. This fish belongs to a group called groupers, which are part of the Serranidae family. This family also includes sea basses.
Areolate groupers live around coral reefs in the Indo-Pacific region. People raise them in fish farms and also catch them for food. Luckily, this fish is not currently in danger of disappearing.
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What Does It Look Like?
The areolate grouper is a fairly big fish. It can grow up to about 47 centimeters (18.5 inches) long and weigh around 1.4 kilograms (3 pounds). Its body is whitish to gray. It has round, brownish spots all over.
One special way to tell it apart is its tail. It has a straight, narrow white line on the edge of its tail. This fish has 11 sharp spines on its back fin. It also has 15-17 soft rays on its back fin. Its bottom fin has 3 spines and 8 soft rays.
Sometimes, people confuse it with the brownspotted grouper. That fish is found in a different area, the Persian Gulf.
Where Does It Live?
The areolate grouper lives in warm, tropical waters. You can find it across a huge area called the Indo-Pacific region. This stretches from the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf all the way to Fiji. It also lives north near Japan and south near Australia.
These groupers usually hang out in seagrass beds. They also like areas with soft sand or mud near rocky reefs. You might see them near dead coral or soft corals. Young groupers are often found in waters up to 80 meters (260 feet) deep.
How They Grow and What They Eat
Like many other groupers, the areolate grouper can change its sex. When they are young, they are usually female. As they get older and more mature, some of them turn into males. They become ready to have babies when they are about 22 centimeters (8.7 inches) long. They usually lay eggs during certain months, like May, June, October, and December.
When grouper babies first hatch, they are very tiny. They eat small zooplankton, which are tiny animals floating in the water. Adult areolate groupers eat other fish. They also munch on creatures that live on the ocean floor. Their favorite foods include prawns and crabs.
Fishing and Farming
The areolate grouper is one of about 16 types of groupers that people raise on fish farms. This is called aquaculture. The most common way to farm them is using floating net cages. These cages float in the ocean and are held in place by anchors. This method is simple and doesn't cost too much to start. It also lets farmers use existing ocean areas.
However, farming in the ocean means the fish are affected by water quality problems. Also, farmers can't control the water temperature. Water temperature is important for how fast the fish grow.
Groupers are very popular to eat, so they can be sold for a good price. This means many people want to catch them. To help protect wild grouper populations, many countries encourage fish farming. This helps make sure there are enough groupers for the future.
Hong Kong is a big producer of farmed areolate grouper. In 2004, they produced about 155 metric tons. It's still hard to raise groupers from egg to adult in farms. So, about two-thirds of farmed groupers start as wild eggs. These eggs are collected from the ocean and then grown in farms. This is called "capture-based aquaculture."
People catch areolate groupers using long lines and hand lines. Even though they are popular for food, the areolate grouper is not currently in danger.
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