Sawtail Grouper, Mycteroperca prionura

Sawtail Grouper, Mycteroperca prionura, Juvenile. Fish caught from coastal waters off  Loreto, Baja California Sur, August 2014. Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Chris Wheaton, Fullerton, California.

Sawtail Grouper, Mycteroperca prionura. Fish caught out of coastal waters off Loreto, Baja California Sur, April 2016. Length: 51 cm (20 inches).

Sawtail Grouper, Mycteroperca prionura. Fish caught out of coastal waters off San Ildifonso Island, Baja California Sur, May 2016. Length: 53 cm (21 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Hank Ellwood, San Carlos, Sonora.

Sawtail Grouper, Mycteroperca prionura. Fish caught from coastal waters off El Morro, Bahia de Banderas, Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, October 2020. Length: 60 cm (2 feet 0 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Greg Pilkington, High Spirited Adventures, Puerto Vallarta. Identification reconfirmed by Dr. Mathew Craig, NOAA, La Jolla, California.

Sawtail Grouper, Mycteroperca prionura. Fish caught from coastal waters off Loreto, Baja California Sur, April 2015. Length: 62 cm (2 feet 1 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Chris Wheaton, Fullerton, California.

Sawtail Grouper, Mycteroperca prionura. Fish caught from coastal waters off Rocky Point, Sonora, May 2014. Length: 70 cm (2 feet 4 inches). Weight: 7.5 kg (16 lbs). Photographs courtesy of Ted and C.J. Miller, Rocky Point. Fish identification courtesy of Robert Moore, Gilbert, AZ and reconfirmed by H.J. Walker, Jr., Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, California. A difficult identification due to the tail margin which is very similar to a Broomtail Grouper, Mycteroperca xenarcha.

The Sawtail Grouper, Mycteroperca prionura, is a member of in the Grouper or Epinephelidae Family, and is known in Mexico as cabrilla chiruda, chelata or simply cabrilla. Globally, there are fifteen species in the genus Mycteroperca, of which eleven are found in Mexican waters, seven in the Atlantic and four in the Pacific Ocean.

The Sawtail Grouper has an elongated robust compressed body that is deepest above the anal fin origin. They are tan in color and they are covered with brown oval blotches and round spots that fade with maturity. Their snout is longer than the eyes. Their anal fin is pointed and has 3 spines and 10 to 12 rays; their caudal fin has a saw-like margin; their dorsal fin has 11 spines, the third being is the longest, and 16 to 18 rays; and, their pectoral fins have 15 or 16 rays. They have 34 to 38 gill rakers.

The Sawtail Grouper is found within rocky reefs and are more common in fields of large boulders with gorgonians and black corals at depths between 8 m (25 feet) and 46 m (150 feet). They reach a maximum of 1.00 m (3 feet 4 inches) in length and 15 kg (33 lbs) in weight. As of January 1, 2024, the International Game Fish Association world record stood at 14.06 kg (31 lbs 0 oz) with the fish caught from coastal waters off Palmas Secas, Mexico in April 2001. A Grouper Family Weight From Length Conversion Table has been included in this website to allow the accurate determination of a fish weight and a return to the ocean unharmed. They are voracious predators, feeding on crustaceans at night and on small fish during the day. They are likely protogynous with females changing to males at mid-life. The Sawtail 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 Sawtail Grouper is a resident of Mexican waters of the Pacific Ocean but has a limited range being found only in the Sea of Cortez and along the coast of the mainland south to Puerto Vallarta. They are more abundant in the central and northern parts of the range and the fishes photographed above document the presence of this fish in the extreme northern Sea of Cortez and in the coastal waters of Puerto Vallarta.

The Sawtail Grouper can be easily confused with the Broomtail Grouper, Mycteroperca xenarcha (second to seventh dorsal spines of equal length; caudal fin with a very jagged rear edge; 29 to 33 gill rakers) and the Leopard Grouper, Mycteroperca rosacea (dark gray body with small brown spots; dark saddles and pale vertical lines).

From a conservation perspective the Sawtail Groupers are currently considered to be Near Threatened. Populations are believed to have declined by at least 30% over the last ten years. It is anticipated that this population decline will continue. They are a rare, large species with slow reproduction cycles and slow growth rates, and reside in a small geographic range. They are a prime target of the sports fishing industry in the central Sea of Cortez, where they are targeted by both commercial and recreational fishermen during spawning aggregations in April and May. Illegal spear fishermen, using hookah breathing apparatus and lights at night, take a significant number of fish. The Sawtail Grouper is considered to be an excellent food fish.