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Red Grouper
Species Information
| Scientific Name: | Epinephelus morio |
| Environment: | Nearshore, Offshore |
| Ideal Temp: | 66-77ºF (19-25ºC) |
| Technique: | Bottom Fishing, Jigging |
| Lure Type: | Bottom Rig, Jigs |
| World Record: | 19.16 kg (42 lb 4 oz) St. Augustine, Florida, USA |
| Other Names: | red grouper, cherna, nogue couleur rouge, piragia, punameriahven, roter grouper, rø, d havaborre, tsumagurohata, vieille rouge |
The red grouper is a species of fish in the Serranidae family. It is found in Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Brazil, Cayman Islands, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, the Dominican Republic, French Guiana, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Martinique, Mexico, Montserrat, Netherlands Antilles, Nicaragua, Panama, Puerto Rico, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands, the United States, Venezuela, the British Virgin Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Its natural habitats are open seas, shallow seas, subtidal aquatic beds, coral reefs, rocky shores, sandy shores, estuarine waters, intertidal flats, intertidal marshes, coastal saline lagoons, coastal freshwater lagoons, and karsts.
The Red Grouper is an opportunistic feeder and a top predator in the reef community. The diet is varied but commonly includes lutjanid and sparid fishes, xanthid and portunid crabs, spiny lobster, and snapping shrimp. The Red grouper is of moderate size, about 125 cm and weighs 23 kg or more Body coloration is typically reddish-brown color. White spots are commonly found on the body of the red grouper. Red grouper are unique in the fact that they are protogynous hermaphrodites, beginning life as females, with some later transforming into males. Females transform into males between the ages of 7 and 14.Spawning occurs between January and June, peaking in May. Red Grouper are mostly batch spawners. Larval red grouper leave the plankton after approximately 1 month.
Red grouper are easily recognized by their color and by the sloped, straight line of their spiny dorsal fin. The fin has a long second spine and an unnotched interpine membrane. Most epinepheline groupers have a notched dorsal spine membrane and a third spine longer than the second. The body is deep brownish-red overall, with occational white spots on the sides. Tiny black specks dot the cheeks and operculum. The red grouper is most closely related to the Nassau grouper, Epinephelus striatus, which has several verticle bars and blotches, and is found more commonly on coral reefs in the West Indies.
Red groupers usually ambush their prey and swallow it hole, preffering crabs, shrimp, lobster, actopus, squid and fish that live close to reefs.
Latest Red Grouper Fishing Reports and Spots
Greater Amberjack Triggerfish Red Snapper Scamp Black Snapper Wahoo Vermilion Snapper Amberines Almaco Jacks White Snapper Spanish Mackerel Kin (
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This Red Snapper trip left the dock on 6/9/23 at 10pm. Once again the weather was wonderful. The seas were calm at only 1ft or less and we w (
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Red Snapper Scamp Black Snapper Wahoo Vermilion Snapper Amberines Almaco Jacks White Snapper Spanish Mackerel King Mackerel Lane Snapper Black (
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Grouper and kingfish will be the fish of the month for November. Both Gag and Red grouper fishing have been excellent this whole year and has on (
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Red Grouper season opens this April 1st and the limit for deep sea fishing charters in the Tampa Bay area has increased to (4) four fish per per (
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Red Snapper season for West Central Florida opens June 1st followed by Gag Grouper. Along with the already open Red Grouper season these extra o (
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March is going to be a very exciting month to get out and do some Deep Sea Fishing! Winter will be behind us and we are gearing up for great fi (
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Red Grouper season opens April 1st and will remain open throughout the rest of the year. Rock piles ledges and reefs in the 60 to 100 foot dept (
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We got everyone loaded up and set out around 6pm. The weather was perfect and we enjoyed a beautiful ride out the river seeing all the fanta (
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Triggerfish Scamp Black Snapper Wahoo Vermilion Snapper Amberines Almaco Jacks White Snapper Spanish Mackerel King Mackerel Lane Snapper Black (
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