Mycteroperca venenosa

Geographic Range

Yellowfin grouper can be found throughout the western Atlantic Ocean, from the north and east coasts of South America (as far south as Sao Paulo, Brazil) to the east coast of Central America, including the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean, as well as the southern coast of Florida. They are also found in the waters surrounding Bermuda.

• Biogeographic Regions
• nearctic nearctic
  • native native
• neotropical neotropical
  • native native
• atlantic ocean atlantic ocean
  • native native

Habitat

Juvenile yellowfin grouper frequent shallow turtle grass beds, while adults may be found out to the continental shelf break. Longline catches of adults around Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands show that adults can frequent depths of up to 198 m; adults are regularly found in waters from 2-137 m deep, and are most common at depths of 5-35 m. Yellowfin grouper are considered a “secretive” species, as their habitat is thought to be dictated by their need for shelter as opposed to the availability of prey. As adults, they prefer areas that offer this shelter, such as offshore reefs, irregular rock formations, and sunken shipwrecks.

• Habitat Regions
• tropical tropical
• saltwater or marine saltwater or marine

• Aquatic Biomes
• benthic benthic
• reef reef
• coastal coastal

Physical Description

Yellowfin grouper have a fusiform (cylindrical and tapering) body shape, and are strong and agile swimmers. Their body coloration is highly variable, as these fish are able to use chromatophores to rapidly change color and shade in response to their environments. Most typically, they are a pale olive green to brown, but may range to gray or even black. Specimens taken from depths exceeding 35 m are often red in color, with darker red blotches; body color is usually more brownish in specimens inhabiting shallower waters. Coloration change, from lighter or reddish to a darker, more drab color, tends to occur as a fish ages and moves to deeper water. Other changes in coloration observed include a dark phase, in which the fish is completely dark with no blotches (also observed when a fish is hiding); a bicolor phase,in which the fish is dark gray dorsally, contrasting with a light ventral coloration; and a white-headed phase, seen during interactions with conspecifics, including during breeding. Yellowfin grouper have distinctive dark blotches in oval-shaped groups on their heads and bodies, wide, brilliant yellow margins on their pectoral fins, and yellow-edged mouths. Their bellies are pink in color. The caudal fin is slightly truncated. The dorsal fin has 11 spines and 15-16 rays. Indivduals up to 100 cm have been found, although average lengths are around 50 cm. The maximum recorded weight for this species is 18.5 kg.

Males are larger than females and are distinguished by a yellow blotch on either side of the lower jaw. Females have a reddish lower jaw.

• Other Physical Features
• ectothermic ectothermic
• bilateral symmetry bilateral symmetry

• Sexual Dimorphism
• male larger
• sexes colored or patterned differently

Development

Gametogenesis is discontinuous and asynchronous; different sizes and stages of eggs are carried and released at a time. Eggs and larvae are planktonic and larvae settle anywhere from one week to two or three months after hatching. Fry are red with light blotches that become darker as they age.

• Development - Life Cycle
• indeterminate growth indeterminate growth

Reproduction

Yellowfin grouper form spawning aggregations. The size of these groups varies depending on locality, with groups of anywhere from 2-4 individuals to hundreds. Breeding is promiscuous. Males with the white-headed color phase display to females, first positioning themselves alongside them, then turning 90° sharply above them, while twitching their bodies. Males also produce low frequency sounds in uniform pulses and variable pulse calls, to induce females to spawn.

• Mating System
• polygynandrous (promiscuous) polygynandrous (promiscuous)

Yellowfin grouper are protogynous hermaphrodites, changing sex from female to male upon reaching approximately 65 cm in length (approximately 8-9 years of age). Sex change may be also cued by social interactions. Males in the Florida Keys are reported to reach maturity at approiximately 54 cm in length, while females off the coast of Cuba reportedly reach maturity at 51 cm. Estimated fecundity for a female yellowfin grouper at 51 cm in length is 1,425,443 eggs.

Yellowfin grouper breed annually, with females releasing eggs at a variety of developmental stages and sizes in up to 7-8 batches when in a spawning aggregation. Spawning is thought to be linked to lunar cycles. Breeding season varies by location and typically lasts 3 months. In the Bahamas, the spawning season is January through March, beginning during a full moon and continuing for 12-14 days each month when the water is coldest. In southern regions, the season changes accordingly, e.g. from June to August in the waters off of Sao Paolo, Brazil.

• Key Reproductive Features
• iteroparous iteroparous
• seasonal breeding seasonal breeding
• gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate)
• sequential hermaphrodite
  • protogynous protogynous
• sexual sexual
• fertilization fertilization
  • external external
• broadcast (group) spawning
• oviparous oviparous

No parental investment has been documented in this species.

• Parental Investment
• no parental involvement

Lifespan/Longevity

Maximum lifespan has been estimated at 15 years in the wild. The population doubling time for this species is estimated at 4.5-14 years. There is no information on lifespan in captivity currently available.

Behavior

This species has the ability to change body color when changing habitat. Except for congregating to spawn, groupers are solitary and do not socialize.

Yellowfin groupers aggregate at breeding sites. One of the primary aggregation sites is the Grammanik Bank, a narrow shelf (100 m in length) at a depth of 25 m, located south of St. Thomas, USVI.

• Key Behaviors
• natatorial natatorial
• crepuscular crepuscular
• motile motile
• nomadic nomadic
• migratory migratory
• solitary solitary

Home Range

Whether this species maintains a well-defined home range or territory is unknown.

Communication and Perception

Yellowfin grouper communicate reproductive readiness using visual color variation cues and sounds. These fish have lateral line systems, which perceive changes in water pressure and movement, as well as olfactory nares that can detect dissolved chemicals in the water.

• Communication Channels
• visual visual
• tactile tactile
• acoustic acoustic
• chemical chemical

• Other Communication Modes
• vibrations vibrations

• Perception Channels
• visual visual
• tactile tactile
• acoustic acoustic
• vibrations vibrations
• chemical chemical

Food Habits

Yellowfin grouper are pelagic hunters, feeding mainly on macrofauna. Their preferred diet is coral reef fishes; they are also known to consume crustaceans and squid. These fish may forage over long distances. They often use their mouths to burrow into the sand, waiting for prey. Their slender bodies and explosive swimming speed aid in the capture of prey, which they swallow whole.

• Primary Diet
• carnivore carnivore
  • piscivore piscivore
  • eats non-insect arthropods
  • molluscivore molluscivore

• Animal Foods
• fish
• mollusks
• aquatic crustaceans

Predation

Yellowfin grouper are large, top-level predators and so are mainly only preyed upon as juveniles. They use reefs, wrecks, caves, and other structures as shelter from potential predators. As adults, they are susceptible to predation by sharks and humans, especially during spawning aggregations.

Ecosystem Roles

Yellowfin grouper are important secondary and tertiary predators, as well as a primary food source for apex predators, such as sharks. Their nares may contain ectoparasitic isopods, and individuals have been found infected with intestinal parasitic flatworms as well as nematodes in their ovaries, which may hinder egg production. There is some evidence that yellowfin grouper have a natural immunity to some trematodes, such as Epibdella melleni .

Economic Importance for Humans: Positive

With their firm, white flesh, yellowfin grouper are a commercially important species. They are also highly prized in game fishing and are popular in public and private aquaria.

• Positive Impacts
• pet trade pet trade
• food food
• ecotourism ecotourism

Economic Importance for Humans: Negative

There have been some reports of ciguatera poisoning from consumption of yellowfin grouper; this potential toxicity is the origin of the species name "venenosa." This toxicity is not produced by the fish themselves, but from dinoflagellates that are consumed by their prey species, which are in turn ingested by the grouper.

Conservation Status

Yellowfin grouper are classified as "near-threatened" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. They are vulnerable to overfishing, particularly when they aggregate to spawn. In the Caribbean, about a third of spawning aggregations have completely disappeared due to over-fishing. From 1998 to 2013, the spawning aggregation in Belize declined 80%. Data from Bermuda and the Caribbean include evidence of diminishing stocks and declines in weight as much as 15 fold between the years 1979-1981, due to unregulated exploitation. Spawning sites in Belize, Cuba and Mexico are declining and are subject to commercial exploitation.

Additional Links

Encyclopedia of Life

Contributors

Jesus Cortez (), San Diego Mesa College, Ellen Huether (author), San Diego Mesa College, Lyndee Logan (author), San Diego Mesa College, Paul Detwiler (editor), San Diego Mesa College, Jeremy Wright (editor), University of Michigan-Ann Arbor.

References

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