FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 78, NO. 2 



Figure 19. — Epinephelus socialis, 222 mm SL, Po- ape, Caroline Islands. 



including Percnon, and the xanthid crab Eriphia 

 sebana was found in the third); one of 330 mm 

 contained an octopus (60% by volume) and a pre- 

 juvenile acanthurid fish; one of 354 mm contained 

 an acanthurid 165 mm SL. The remaining 

 stomachs were empty. 



Epinephelus tauvina (Forsskal) (Figure 20): The 

 name E. tauvina has often been applied to a huge 

 grouper for whicli the name E. lanceolatus seems 

 correct. Though the true E. tauvina can attain 

 moderately large size (to perhaps 800 mm SL or 



more), it is not a giant species. Schultz in Schultz 

 and collaborators (1953) described this fish as E. 

 elongatus from the Marshall Islands, Mariana Is- 

 lands, Phoenix Islands, and Samoa Islands, and 

 Smith and Smith (1963) named it E. salonotus 

 from the Seychelles. Katayama (1960) and Ran- 

 dall (1964) showed that E. to«i;ma, described from 

 the Red Sea, is the senior synonym. This species 

 may be confused with other dark-spotted groupers 

 such as E. merra Bloch and E. hexagonus (Bloch 

 and Schneider), particularly when it is small. It is 

 differentiated from them in having 15 instead of 



Figure 20. — Epinephelus tauvina, 252 mm SL, Enewetak, Marshall Islands. 



220 



