230 UNDERWATER GUIDE TO MARINE LIFE 



The princess rockfish, Mycteroperca inter stitialis, is a small and very beautiful 

 grouper which reaches a length of a little over a foot. There are many color 

 phases, but in all these there are large spots, and bright colors predominate as 

 a ground color. The commissure is yellow to yellow-green. 



The tiger rockfish, Mycteroperca tigris, also has yellow-tipped pectorals. Its 

 pattern is a rather striking blotched one with light stripes crossing the dark 

 body. It is West Indian and grows to 2 feet in length. 



The golden grouper (sardinera, leopard grouper), Mycteroferca •pardalis, is 

 greenish to brownish with small brown spots or a brilliant orange-yellow (some- 

 times blotched with black). It reaches 2 to 3 feet and is found from the Gulf 

 of California southward. 



Genus Efinefhelus. This is fully as confusing a genus as the last. It is char- 

 acterized by a low, narrow forehead, which makes the head look relativelv long 

 and pointed, and a short anal fin of seven to eight soft rays. The overall size of 

 some is rather small. The tail fin is most often rounded, never concave or forked 

 (except in the red grouper). 



NASSAU GROUPER (harilet, cherna criolla) : E'pinefhehis striatus— Color 



Plate 4 and Figure 12 



Size: Up to 31/2 feet. 



Weight: Averages 15 pounds. Up to 50 pounds. 



Distribution: Florida to the West Indies and Brazil. Straggles to Cape Hatteras. 



Identification: This is one of the most familiar and easily identified of groupers. 

 There are several color phases, but there is typically a diagonal stripe through 

 the eye, a strong vertically barred pattern, and a black spot over the caudal 

 peduncle. The black spot over the peduncle is the only characteristic that is 

 unchanged in all color phases. The tail fin is rounded or nearly straight. A 

 series of black spots rings the eye. 



Similar Species: The red hamlet (mutton hamlet), Alphestes afer, looks 

 roughly like a deep-bodied Nassau grouper and has a yellowish-brown ground 

 color with indistinct, dark, vertical, mottled bars. The head is spotted heavily 

 with yellowish to orange-brown spots and the breast with pale blue spots. The 

 fins are dusky. It grows to a little over a foot and is West Indian, being 

 particularly common in Puerto Rico, where it is an important food fish. 



RED GROUPER (cHERNA AMERICANA): Epinepliclus viorio—Color Plate 4 



Size: Up to 3 feet. 



Weight: Averages 10 pounds. Up to 40 pounds. 



Distribution: The most common grouper in the West Indies and Florida. 

 Reaches Virginia and Rio de Janeiro. 



Identification: There are several confusing color phases, but this is the only 

 member of the genus with a distinctly square to concave tail. The spiny dorsal 

 is high in front, tapering behind. The pattern is blotched, and there is con- 

 siderable pattern resemblance to the Nassau grouper, but the color is a warmer 

 reddish brown and the blotches are not arranged in distinct vertical bars. 

 A plain, unblotched color phase is generally assumed when the fish becomes 

 active. 



