Misty Grouper, Hyporthodus mystacinus
Misty Grouper, Hyporthodus mystacinus, Juvenile. Fish caught from coastal waters of Bimini, Bahamas, June 2023. Length: 23 cm (9.2 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Dominick Porcelli, Lighthouse Point, Florida.
The Misty Grouper, Hyporthodus mystacinus, is a member of the Grouper or Epinephelidae Family, that is also known as the Black Grouper, Convict Grouper, Eightbar Grouper, Moustache Grouper and Mystic Grouper and in Mexico as Mero Listado. Globally, there are fourteen species in the genus Hyporthodus, of which seven are found in Mexican waters, four in the Atlantic and three in the Pacific Ocean.
The Misty Grouper has a robust, deep, oval laterally compressed body that is deepest at the dorsal fin origin. They are normally found in deep water as solitary individuals. They are a chocolate brown color with pale spots with 9 or 10 prominent vertical bars on the head and body that extend onto the anal and dorsal fins. They have three oblique dark stripes on the side of the head – one along the top of the upper jaw and on the cheek and two behind the eye and on the gill cover. The juveniles are similar but have a darker head and a broad black bar across the caudal base. They have a large head with large eyes and the rear nostril being larger than the front nostrils. Their anal fin has 3 spines and 8 rays, their caudal fin is rounded to bluntly straight, their first dorsal fin has 11 spines with the third spine being the longest, the second dorsal fin has 13 to 15 rays, the pelvic fins are shorter than the pectoral fins and inserted under the pectoral fin base. They have 8 or 9 gills rakers on the lower arch and 15 to 17 gill rakers on the upper arch. Their lateral line is complete and smoothly arched and ends at the caudal base. The body is covered with rough scales.
The Misty Grouper is a demersal species that is found within rocky reefs primarily around offshore islands at depths between 12 m (40 feet) and 400 m (1,310 feet). They have secretive behavior. Adults are found in deeper waters than juveniles. They are sexually dimorphic with males reaching a maximum of 1.15 m (3 feet 9 inches) and females 1.00 m (3 feet 3 inches) in length and 107 kg (236 pounds) in weight. 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 ambush predators feeding on crustaceans, fish and squid. They have documented life spans of up to 150 years. The Misty 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 Misty Grouper is a resident of Mexican waters of the Atlantic Ocean and found from Veracruz to Belize in the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean.
The Misty Grouper is most likely confused with the Nassau Grouper, Epinephelus striatus (a wide bar that runs through the eye and turns abruptly upward just in front of the first dorsal fin).
From a conservation perspective the Misty Grouper is currently considered to be of Least Concern with stable, widely distributed populations. They are actively pursued by commercial and recreational fishermen utilizing bottom longlines, trolls, and handlines and subject to overfishing due to certain intrinsic life history characteristics. In United States waters they are heavily regulated. Their only real protection is their deep-water environments.