White-edged grouper facts for kids

Quick facts for kids White-edged grouper
Conservation status
Vulnerable (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Perciformes
Family:	Serranidae
Subfamily:	Epinephelinae
Genus:	Epinephelus
Species:	E. albomarginatus
Binomial name
Epinephelus albomarginatus Boulenger, 1903
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The white-edged grouper (also known as Epinephelus albomarginatus) is a type of fish that lives in the ocean. It's a kind of grouper, which belongs to a larger fish family called Serranidae. This family also includes fish like anthias and sea basses. You can find the white-edged grouper in the southwestern Indian Ocean, often living near coral reefs. People catch this fish for both fun and for selling.

What Does It Look Like?

The white-edged grouper has a body that is about 2.6 to 3.0 times longer than it is deep. It has a special bone near its gill cover (called the preopercle) with a few larger, sharp edges.

Its top fin (the dorsal fin) has 11 stiff spines and 14 soft rays. The fin underneath (the anal fin) has 3 spines and 8 soft rays. The parts of the dorsal fin between the spines are clearly notched. The fins on its belly (pelvic fins) are about the same length as its side fins (pectoral fins), or a little longer. The tail fin (caudal fin) is mostly straight across, but its corners are rounded in older fish.

This fish has two rows of teeth in its mouth, with the outer row being larger. It has between 56 and 66 scales along its side, forming a line called the lateral line.

The main color of its head, body, and top and tail fins is light brown. It has many small, darker brown spots all over. These spots are not found on the underside of its head or body. Young white-edged groupers have a dark brown stripe above their lips. Many of their spots on the head, body, and middle fins join together to form double spots.

The spiny part of the dorsal fin has a yellow or gold edge. The soft part of the dorsal fin and the anal fin are dark away from their bases, but they have a clear white edge. The tail fin also has a white edge on its top and bottom outer parts. The pectoral fins are yellowish or reddish-orange.

The biggest white-edged grouper ever recorded was about 100 centimetres (39 in) long. The heaviest one weighed around 125 kilograms (276 lb).

Where Does It Live?

The white-edged grouper is only found along the eastern coast of Southern Africa. It lives from a place called Zavala in southern Mozambique down to East London in the Eastern Cape of South Africa.

Habitat and Life Cycle

You can find the white-edged grouper on rocky and coral reefs. They usually live at depths between 25 and 120 metres (82 and 394 ft).

This fish is a predator, meaning it hunts and eats other animals. It mostly eats spiny lobsters, crabs, and octopuses. It will also eat other fish and squid.

White-edged groupers grow slowly. They are special because they are "protogynous hermaphrodites." This means that all the males of this species start out as females. They are born female, can reproduce as females, and then later in life, they change into males. It's thought that these fish might move north to spawn (lay eggs). Adult fish tend to stay off the northern coast of KwaZulu-Natal and southern Mozambique.

Who Discovered This Fish?

The white-edged grouper was first officially described in 1903. A scientist named George Albert Boulenger, who was Belgian-British, gave it its scientific name. He found the first example of this fish in the Colony of Natal.

Why Is It Important to People?

People catch the white-edged grouper for both fun (recreational fishing) and to sell (commercial fishing). In South Africa, commercial fishers use hooks and lines from boats. In Mozambique, people also use lines, both handlines and fishing rods. The fish they catch are sold locally and also sent to Europe.

Because these fish grow slowly, mature late, and change sex from female to male, they are easily overfished. This means too many can be caught, which can harm their population.

Conservation Efforts

The IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) lists the white-edged grouper as a "Vulnerable" species. This means it's at risk of becoming endangered. It's vulnerable because it lives in a small area and has been overfished. This has caused a big drop in the number of fish that can reproduce.

However, the white-edged grouper does live in some protected areas in both South Africa and Mozambique. In South Africa, there are rules to manage how many fish can be caught by commercial fishers. There are also extra rules to protect species that have been overfished. For example, recreational fishers can only catch 5 fish per person per day, and the fish must be at least 40 cm long to be kept. But even with these rules, people are still worried about catches outside the limits and the increase in recreational fishing. Mozambique also has a plan to manage this species.