Big Fish
Giant Grouper
Epinephelus lanceolatus · Bony fish — family Epinephelidae
The giant grouper is the Indo-Pacific's resident submarine: a fish the size of a chest freezer, drab olive-gray with a vast frog mouth, hanging in the shade of a wreck companionway with tiny eyes tracking everything. Australia's Yongala wreck made the species famous among divers — its resident giants loom out of the gloom beside bull rays and sea snakes, treating the hull as a fiefdom. Encounters elsewhere are scattered and memorable for their rarity; wild adults have been fished out of most of Asia, and a giant meeting you at depth with calm, proprietary curiosity is a privilege fewer reefs can offer each decade. Aquaculture now supplies the food trade the wild fish once fed.
Où et quand en observer un
« Résident » signifie que la plupart des plongées sur ce site permettent de les observer ; « saisonnier » signifie qu'ils sont présents de manière fiable durant les mois indiqués ; tout le reste est un bonus, pas une certitude.
| Destination | Fiabilité | Mois | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Townsville & the YongalaAustralia | Resident — seen on most dives | Toute l'année | |
| Cairns & the Ribbon ReefsAustralia | Occasional | Toute l'année | |
| Sipadan & MabulMalaysia | Occasional | Toute l'année |
Meilleur mois, en un coup d'œil
| Mois | Destinations fiables |
|---|---|
| January | Townsville & the Yongala · Cairns & the Ribbon Reefs · Sipadan & Mabul |
| February | Townsville & the Yongala · Cairns & the Ribbon Reefs · Sipadan & Mabul |
| March | Townsville & the Yongala · Cairns & the Ribbon Reefs · Sipadan & Mabul |
| April | Townsville & the Yongala · Cairns & the Ribbon Reefs · Sipadan & Mabul |
| May | Townsville & the Yongala · Cairns & the Ribbon Reefs · Sipadan & Mabul |
| June | Townsville & the Yongala · Cairns & the Ribbon Reefs · Sipadan & Mabul |
| July | Townsville & the Yongala · Cairns & the Ribbon Reefs · Sipadan & Mabul |
| August | Townsville & the Yongala · Cairns & the Ribbon Reefs · Sipadan & Mabul |
| September | Townsville & the Yongala · Cairns & the Ribbon Reefs · Sipadan & Mabul |
| October | Townsville & the Yongala · Cairns & the Ribbon Reefs · Sipadan & Mabul |
| November | Townsville & the Yongala · Cairns & the Ribbon Reefs · Sipadan & Mabul |
| December | Townsville & the Yongala · Cairns & the Ribbon Reefs · Sipadan & Mabul |
Les comprendre
Habitat: Wrecks, caves, and lagoon pinnacles; solitary adults hold large territories around favored structure
Aire de répartition: Tropical Indo-Pacific from the Red Sea and East Africa to Australia, Japan, and the central Pacific — nowhere common
Comportement: A cave-dwelling colossus that spends daylight suspended in shade, drifting out to inspect visitors with ponderous confidence. Individual fish occupy the same wreck or bommie for many years and become local celebrities. Like its Atlantic counterpart it can produce a booming territorial drum.
Régime alimentaire: Spiny lobsters, crabs, fish including small sharks and rays, and juvenile turtles, engulfed whole
Taille: généralement autour de 1.8 m; documenté jusqu'à 2.7 m (total length; the largest bony fish resident on coral reefs, reportedly to 400 kg).
Comment se comporter avec lui
No feeding — it rewired the behavior of famous individuals in the past — no touching, and give the fish the right of way in wreck corridors and caves.
Conservation
Currently assessed Data Deficient — wild populations are sparse and hard to census after decades of the live reef-food-fish trade; several range states protect it outright.
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Regarder
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