Misty grouper facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Misty grouper |
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The misty grouper (scientific name: Hyporthodus mystacinus) is a type of fish that lives in the ocean. It's also known by other names like black grouper or moustache grouper. This fish belongs to a group called groupers. You can mostly find it in the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. It also lives near the Galápagos Islands and the coasts of Central America.
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Meet the Misty Grouper
The misty grouper has a strong, deep body that looks a bit oval and is flattened on its sides. Its body is deepest near its dorsal fin (the fin on its back). The space between its eyes is curved.
What Does It Look Like?
Adult misty groupers are usually chocolate brown. They have light spots and 9 to 10 dark stripes that go up and down their head and body. These stripes even reach their dorsal and anal fins (the fin on its belly). The stripe closest to its tail is the widest and darkest.
You can also see three dark lines on the side of its head. One runs along its upper jaw. There are also vertical stripes on its cheek and two more behind its eye, reaching its gill cover.
Young misty groupers look like the adults. However, their heads are darker. They also have a wide black stripe across the base of their tail.
How Big Do They Get?
Male misty groupers can grow up to 160 centimeters (about 5 feet 3 inches) long. Females can reach about 100 centimeters (about 3 feet 3 inches). The heaviest misty grouper ever recorded weighed about 107 kilograms (236 pounds)!
Where Does the Misty Grouper Live?
The misty grouper lives in two main areas. You can find it in the western Atlantic Ocean and the eastern Pacific Ocean.
Atlantic Ocean Homes
In the western Atlantic, it lives from North Carolina down to the Florida Keys. It's also found in The Bahamas, Bermuda, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean Sea. In South America, it lives from Santa Marta in Colombia to Rio de Janeiro in Brazil.
Pacific Ocean Homes
In the eastern Pacific, this fish has been seen near the Galápagos Islands and the coast of Ecuador. It also lives around the Paramount Seamount and Cocos Island in Costa Rica.
Life in the Deep Sea
The misty grouper is a fish that prefers to live alone. It likes deep waters where there are hard surfaces like rocks. It usually lives at depths from 100 to 400 meters (about 330 to 1,300 feet).
What Do They Eat?
Misty groupers eat a variety of foods. Their diet includes squid, crustaceans (like crabs and shrimp), and smaller fish.
Where Do They Hang Out?
You'll mostly find these fish over steep rocky areas. They live along the edge of the continental shelf and around islands far from shore. They also like seamounts, which are underwater mountains. Young groupers live in shallower waters than adults, sometimes as shallow as 340 meters (about 1,100 feet).
Naming the Misty Grouper
The misty grouper was first officially described in 1852. A Cuban zoologist named Felipe Poey gave it the scientific name Serranus mystacinus. Later, scientists decided it belonged to a different group of fish, so its name changed to Hyporthodus mystacinus.
Fishing for Groupers
The misty grouper is a popular fish for people who enjoy sport fishing. However, it's not as famous as some other groupers. This might be because it lives in such deep waters.
Commercial fishermen also catch misty groupers. In places like the Galapagos and Brazil, they use different methods to catch them. These include trolling (dragging lines behind a boat), long lines (very long lines with many hooks), and hand lines (fishing with a line held by hand).
