Cephalopholis leopardus facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Cephalopholis leopardus |
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| A Leopard Grouper for sale as live seafood in a Hong Kong restaurant. | |
| Conservation status | |
Scientific classification  |
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| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Perciformes |
| Family: | Serranidae |
| Subfamily: | Epinephelinae |
| Genus: | Cephalopholis |
| Species: |
C. leopardus
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| Binomial name | |
| Cephalopholis leopardus (Lacepède, 1801)
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| Synonyms | |
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The Leopard Grouper (scientific name: Cephalopholis leopardus) is a cool type of fish that lives in the ocean. It's also sometimes called the Leopard Hind. This fish is a kind of grouper, which belongs to a bigger family of fish called Serranidae. This family also includes other fish like anthias and sea basses. You can find the Leopard Grouper swimming in the warm waters of the Indo-Pacific region.
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About the Leopard Grouper
The Leopard Grouper is a small to medium-sized fish. It can grow up to about 24 centimeters (about 9.5 inches) long. Its body shape is like a spindle, which means it's wider in the middle and tapers at both ends. It's also a bit flat from side to side.
What Does It Look Like?
This fish has a rounded caudal fin (tail fin). Its mouth is quite large and points upwards. The main color of its body can be light brown, reddish, or a light green-gray.
On the top part of its body, you'll see blotches that look like a marbled pattern. The lower part of its body is covered in spots. Its snout, which is the front part of its face, has small red or dark dots.
It can be a bit tricky to tell the Leopard Grouper apart from another fish called Cephalopholis urodeta. But the Leopard Grouper has two dark blotches on the top part of its caudal peduncle (the narrow part of the body before the tail fin). Its tail fin also has two red or dark lines that form a "V" shape, plus another black line that runs parallel to the top line of the "V".
Where Do They Live?
Leopard Groupers are found in many places across the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean. You can see them in the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf. They live all the way to the central islands of the Pacific Ocean, but they are not found near South Africa.
Like many groupers, Cephalopholis leopardus prefers clear, rich waters. They like to live close to coral reefs or rocky reefs. You can find them from the surface down to about 40 meters (about 130 feet) deep. Most often, they are seen between 3 to 20 meters (10 to 65 feet) deep.
What Do They Eat?
The Leopard Grouper is a carnivorous fish, which means it eats other animals. Its main diet includes small fishes and crustaceans, like crabs or shrimp. It's an ambush predator, meaning it hides and waits to surprise its prey.
How Do They Behave?
Leopard Groupers usually live alone. They are territorial, which means they defend their own space. They are also demersal, meaning they live near the bottom of the sea.
They can be active both at night (nocturnal) and during the day (diurnal). Their activity might be highest around sunrise and sunset.
An interesting fact about them is that they are protogynous hermaphrodites. This means that a female Leopard Grouper can change its sex and become a male later in its life!
 | William Lucy |
 | Charles Hayes |
 | Cleveland Robinson |
