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Pacific Goliath grouper
 
 
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The Pacific goliath grouper or quinquefasciatus (Epinephelus quinquefasciatus) is a large saltwater fish of the grouper
Grouper

For other meanings, see Grouper .Groupers are fish of any of a number of genus in the subfamily Epinephelinae of the family Serranidae, in the order Perciformes....
 family. It is a relative to the Atlantic Goliath grouper.

The goliath grouper is found primarily in shallow tropical waters among coral
Coral

Corals are marine organisms from the class Anthozoa and exist as small sea anemone?like polyps, typically in colonies of many identical individuals....
 and artificial reefs at depths of up to 165 feet (50 m). Their range includes the area from the Gulf of California
Gulf of California

The Gulf of California is a body of water that separates the Baja California Peninsula from the Mexico mainland. It is bordered by the States of Mexico of Baja California, Baja California Sur, Sonora, and Sinaloa....
 to Peru
Peru

Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
.

Young grouper may live in brackish estuaries, and canals.

They may reach extremely large sizes, growing to lengths of 8.2 feet (2.5 m) and can weigh as much as 800 pounds (363 kg).






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The Pacific goliath grouper or quinquefasciatus (Epinephelus quinquefasciatus) is a large saltwater fish of the grouper
Grouper

For other meanings, see Grouper .Groupers are fish of any of a number of genus in the subfamily Epinephelinae of the family Serranidae, in the order Perciformes....
 family. It is a relative to the Atlantic Goliath grouper.

The goliath grouper is found primarily in shallow tropical waters among coral
Coral

Corals are marine organisms from the class Anthozoa and exist as small sea anemone?like polyps, typically in colonies of many identical individuals....
 and artificial reefs at depths of up to 165 feet (50 m). Their range includes the area from the Gulf of California
Gulf of California

The Gulf of California is a body of water that separates the Baja California Peninsula from the Mexico mainland. It is bordered by the States of Mexico of Baja California, Baja California Sur, Sonora, and Sinaloa....
 to Peru
Peru

Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
.

Young grouper may live in brackish estuaries, and canals.

Goliathgrouper1
They may reach extremely large sizes, growing to lengths of 8.2 feet (2.5 m) and can weigh as much as 800 pounds (363 kg). They are usually around 400 lb when mature. The goliath grouper's inquisitive and generally fearless nature make it a relatively easy prey for spear fishermen. They also tend to spawn in large aggregations returning like clockwork to the same locations making them particularly vulnerable to mass harvesting. Unlike its cousin, the Atlantic Goliath grouper, the Pacific grouper was relatively unharmed by fishing but it still will probably warrant protection soon.

Goliath grouper eat crustacean
Crustacean

Crustaceans are a large group of arthropods, comprising almost 52,000 described species , and are usually treated as a subphylum . They include various familiar animals, such as crabs, lobsters, crayfish, shrimp, krill and barnacles....
s, other fish
Fish

A fish is any marine biology vertebrate animal that is typically ectothermic , covered with scale , and equipped with two sets of paired fins and several unpaired fins....
, octopus
Octopus

The octopus is a cephalopod of the order Octopoda that inhabits many diverse regions of the ocean, especially coral reefs. The term may also refer to only those creatures in the genus Octopus ....
es and young sea turtles. Grouper are preyed upon by large fish such as barracuda
Barracuda

The barracuda is a ray-finned fish known for its large size and fearsome appearance. Its body is long, fairly compressed, and covered with small, smooth scale ....
, moray eel
Moray eel

Moray eels are large cosmopolitan eels of the family Muraenidae. There are approximately 200 species in 15 genera. The typical length of a moray is 1.5 m , with the largest being the slender giant moray, Strophidon sathete, at up to 4 m ....
s and large shark
Shark

Sharks are a type of fish with a full Cartilage skeleton and a highly Streamlines, streaklines and pathlinesd body. They respire with the use of five to seven gill slits....
s.

Goliath grouper are believed to be protogynous hermaphrodite
Hermaphrodite

A hermaphrodite is an organism having both male and female reproductive organs. In many species, hermaphroditism is a common part of the life-cycle, enabling a form of sexual reproduction in which partners are not separated into distinct male and female types of individual....
s, with individuals first maturing as females and only some large adults becoming males. Most grouper
Grouper

For other meanings, see Grouper .Groupers are fish of any of a number of genus in the subfamily Epinephelinae of the family Serranidae, in the order Perciformes....
 follow this pattern, but it has not yet been verified for the Goliath. In fact, Bullock et al. found that males could be sexually mature at smaller sizes (~1150mm) and younger ages (4-6 years) than females (~1225mm and ~6-8 years).

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