Red Grouper, Epinephelus morio

Red Grouper, Epinephelus morio, Juvenile. Fish caught from coastal waters off Big Pine Key, Florida, April 2019. Length: 14 cm (5.5 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Luke Ovgard, Klamath Falls, Oregon.

Red Grouper, Epinephelus morio. Fish caught from coastal waters off Deerfield Beach, Florida, December 2020. Length: 28 cm (11 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Ben Cantrell, San Diego, California.

Red Grouper, Epinephelus morio. Fish caught from coastal waters off Big Pine Key, Florida, April 2019. Length: 30 cm (12 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Luke Ovgard, Klamath Falls, Oregon.

Red Grouper, Epinephelus morio. Fish caught from coastal waters off Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, June 2023. Length: 40 cm (16 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Chris Moore, Peoria, Arizona.

Red Grouper, Epinephelus morio, Juvenile, Male. Fish caught from coastal waters off Key West, Florida, August 2014. Length: 41 cm (16 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Dean Kimberly, Atlanta, Georgia.

Red Grouper, Epinephelus morio. Fish caught from coastal waters off Clearwater, Florida, March 2012. Length: 51 cm (21 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Eli (obsessiveangling.wordpress.com).

The Red Grouper, Epinephelus morio, is a member of the Grouper or Epinephelidae Family, and is known in Mexico as cherna Americana. Globally, there are one hundred species in the genus Epinephelus, of which eleven are found in Mexican waters, six in the Atlantic Ocean and five in the Pacific Ocean.

The Red Grouper is a robust fish with an oblong body. They vary in color but are overall a dark reddish brown with an unorganized pattern of white speckles and blotches on their sides. Their head is a uniform chocolate brown dorsally transitioning to pale with a red tinge ventrally. Their mouth lining is scarlet-orange. Their anal, caudal, and second dorsal fins have dark margins. They have a relatively small mouth with large eyes. Their anal fin has 3 spines and 9 rays; their caudal fin is square; their dorsal fin has 11 spines, the second being the longest, and 16 or 17 rays; and, their pelvic fins are short and inserted behind the pectoral fins. Their body is covered with thick skin and scales.

The Red Grouper is a non-migratory demersal species that is found within rock structures at depths between 5 m (15 feet) and 335 m (1,100 feet). Juveniles are found within inshore reefs; as the fish mature they move further offshore. They reach a maximum of 1.25 m (4 feet 1 inches) in length and 23 kg (51 lbs) in weight. As of January 1, 2024, the International Game Fish Association world record stood at 73 cm (2 feet 5 inches) with the fish caught in coastal waters off Naples, Florida in May 2013 and 19.16 kg (42 lbs 4 oz) with the fish caught in coastal waters off St. Augustine, Florida in March 1997. They feed on crustaceans, fish, and squid. In turn they are heavily preyed upon by larger fish including barracudas and sharks. They are protogynous hermaphrodites and undergo a sex reversal with females transitioning to males at mid-life. They are not aggregation spawners; fertilization is external with pelagic eggs that hatch within 30 hours. They have lifespans of up to twenty-five years and are prone to red tide poisoning. The Red Grouper is poorly studied with very limited information available about their lifestyle and behavioral patterns including specific details on age, growth, longevity, movement patterns, diet, habitat use, and reproduction.

The Red Grouper is a resident of all Mexican waters of the Atlantic Ocean including the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean.

The Red Grouper can be confused with several other Epinephelus, and specifically the Nassau Grouper, Epinephelus striatus, but the Red Groupers have larger dorsal fins and lack the notch between the first and second dorsal fins. In addition, their pectoral fins are longer than their pelvic fins and are inserted behind the pelvic fins, which are atypical features of Epinephelus.

From a conservation perspective the Red Grouper is currently considered to be Near Threatened but in the next 5 years this will most certainly be reclassified to Vulnerable due to diminished populations, slow reproduction cycles, slow growth rates, and continued heavy overfishing. This species has been significantly overfished and populations have declined by at least 50% in the last 50 years. Juveniles are also major casualties as by-catches of shrimp trawlers. As such they are facing a high risk of extinction in the wild in the medium-term future. At present they are heavily regulated in United States waters and by the Mexican Government but such actions have had very little impact on the overall populations. The Red Grouper continues to be targeted by both commercial and recreational fishermen within the Gulf of Mexico. They are a fierce foe requiring heavy tackle to land. They were once the most abundant commercial Grouper in West Florida. They are caught with hook and line and marketed fresh, however, they are known to contain ciguatoxin. They are also used in the aquarium trade.