Nassau Grouper, Epinephelus striatus
Note: This Species is currently considered to be ENDANGERED and if encountered should be handled accordingly.
Nassau Grouper, Epinephelus striatus, Juvenile. Fish caught from coastal waters off the Turks and Caicos, December 2023. Length 13 cm (5.1 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of James Lafontaine, Long Island, New York.
Nassau Grouper, Epinephelus striatus. Fish caught from coastal waters off Key West, Florida, August 2014. Length: 37 cm (15 inches). Photograph courtesy of Dean Kimberly, Atlanta, Georgia.
The Nassau Grouper, Epinephelus striatus, is a member of the Grouper or Epinephelidae Family, and is known in Mexico as mero del caribe. Globally, there are one hundred species in the genus Epinephelus, of which eleven are found in Mexican waters, six in the Atlantic and five in the Pacific Ocean.
The Nassau Grouper has a robust oblong body and is very large in stature with a thick body and a large mouth. They have large eyes and coarse spiny fins. In shallow waters, they are an overall sand color; in deeper waters, they are pinkish to red. They have five irregular dark brown vertical bars on each side, a large black saddle on top of their caudal base, and another dark band that runs from their snout through their eye curving up to meet the same band on the opposite side just before the dorsal fin origin. The third and fourth bars form a W-shape above their lateral line. They have a tuning fork-shaped mark on their forehead and black dots around their eyes. They have the ability to change colors from light to dark brown very quickly and can thus easily blend into their environment. Their anal fin has 3 spines and 8 rays; their caudal fin is rounded in juveniles and convex in adults; their dorsal fin has 11 or 12 spines (the third and fourth being the longest and a key to identification), a notch, and 16 to 18 rays; and, their pelvic fins are shorter than their pectoral fins. They have several sets of strong, slender teeth that act as raspers.
The Nassau Grouper is a demersal species that is found both inshore and offshore within rocky and coral reef environments at depths up to 91 m (300 feet). They reach a maximum of 1.20 m (4 feet 0 inches) in length and over 23 kg (50 lbs) in weight but are more common in the 30 cm (12 inches) to 60 cm (2 feet 0 inches) and 2.0 kg (4 lbs 0 oz) to 4.0 kg (8 lbs 13 oz) range. As of January 1, 2024, the International Game Fish Association world record stood at 17.46 kg (38 lbs 8 oz) with the fish caught from coastal waters off Bimini, Bahamas in February 1994. They are solitary and diurnal ambush predators that feed on crabs, fish, lobsters, and octopus; they also feed on shrimp by inhaling them. In turn they are preyed upon by barracudas, hammerhead sharks, king mackerels, moray eels, and sandbar sharks. The Nassau Groupers have a symbiotic relationship with cleaner wrasses that remove parasites from their mouths. They are slow breeders that form large spawning aggregations during December and January ranging in size from a few dozen to several hundred individuals. Their eggs hatch into pelagic larva, which drift in currents for 30 or more days. They are protogynous hermaphrodites, with females changing to males after 1 or 2 spawning cycles. They have a lifespan of up to sixteen years.
The Nassau Grouper is a resident of Mexican waters of the Atlantic Ocean but has a limited distribution being found in waters adjacent the Yucatán Peninsula in the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean.
The Nassau Grouper is an easy fish to identify due to its characteristic coloration.
From a conservation perspective the Nassau Grouper is currently considered to be CRITICALLY ENDANGERED with a population decline of at least 60% in the last 30 years and they have become commercially extinct in many areas. This decrease is attributed to focus fishing during breeding season, their sedentary behavior, habitat loss, pollution, invasive species taking up residence in their traditional territories, and the retention of undersized fish. Catching of this species is now banned in the United States and heavily regulated in most waters of the Caribbean. Current global populations are estimated at approximately 10,000 mature individuals. Historically the Nassau Grouper have been targeted by both recreational anglers and commercial fishermen with a major focus during spawning seasons as their spawning locations are well known to locals. They are an important food fish throughout the Caribbean and West Indies. They are caught primarily by hook and line, longline, gillnets, and traps. They will also approach divers making them easy targets for spear fishermen. Their meat is marketed fresh, however, they are known to contain ciguatoxin.