Coral Rockcod, Cephalopholis miniata (Forsskal 1755)


Other Names: Coral Cod, Coral Hind, Coral Rock-cod, Coral Trout, Round-tailed Trout, Vermillion Seabass

A Coral Rockcod, Cephalopholis miniata, at Madang, Papua New Guinea. Source: Jan Messersmith / http://www.messersmith.name/wordpress/. License: CC BY Attribution-Noncommercial-ShareAlike

Summary:
An orange-red to reddish-brown rockcod covered in bright blue spots that are smaller than pupil-size. Juveniles are orange to yellow with scattered faint blue spots. Coral Rockcod may have irregular oblique paler bars on sides. 

Cite this page as:
Bray, D.J. 2025, Cephalopholis miniata in Fishes of Australia, accessed 23 Apr 2025, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/home/species/4414

Coral Rockcod, Cephalopholis miniata (Forsskal 1755)

More Info


Distribution

Houtmans Abrolhos Islands, Western Australia, and Ashmore Reef in the Timor Sea, around the tropical north to Fairy Bower, Sydney, New South Wales; also the Lord Howe Province and Norfolk Island in the Tasman Sea. Elsewhere, the species is widespread in the Indo-Pacific, from the Red Sea to South Africa and eastward to the Line Islands, including most islands in the Indian and west-central Pacific oceans.
Inhabits clear coastal and offshore coral reefs, often in exposed rather than protected areas.

Features

Dorsal fin IX, 14-16; Anal fin III, 8-9; Pectoral fin 17-18; Gill rakers 7-9 + 13-15; Lateral line scales 47-55; Scales in longitudinal series 94-114. 
Body depth 2.65-3.05 in SL; head length 2.4-2.65 in SL; maxilla extending to or posterior to rear of orbit; ventral margin of preopercle smooth; 5th - 8th dorsal-fin spines longest, 3.0-3.6 in head length; pectoral fins 1.45-1.75 in head length; pelvic fins not reaching anus, 1.9-2.3 in head length.

Colour

Body orange-red to reddish brown with numerous bright blue spots that are smaller than pupil-size covering the head, body and median fins. Coral Rockcod may have irregular oblique paler bars on sides. Juveniles are orange to yellow with scattered faint blue spots.

Feeding

Carnivore - feeds on fishes mostly, and crustaceans.

Biology

A protogynous hermaphrodite, changing sex from female to male. A dominant male may control a small harem of up to 12 females

Fisheries

Although not a target of large-scale commercial fisheries, the species is taken in local artisanal and/or subsistence fisheries by hook and line, spear and traps in many parts of its range. It is a component of the live reef fish trade, but at presumably low levels.

Etymology

The specific name is from the Latin miniata (= red coloured), in reference to the overall coloration of this species.

Species Citation

Perca miniata Forsskål, 1775, Descriptiones animalium: 41. Type locality: Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Red Sea; [Lohajæ] Al-Luhayya, Yemen, Red Sea.

Author

Bray, D.J. 2025

Resources

Atlas of Living Australia

Coral Rockcod, Cephalopholis miniata (Forsskal 1755)

References


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Allen, G.R. 1997. Marine Fishes of Tropical Australia and South-east Asia. Perth : Western Australian Museum 292 pp. 106 pls.

Allen, G.R. & Erdmann, M.V. 2012. Reef fishes of the East Indies. Perth : Tropical Reef Research 3 vols, 1260 pp.

Allen, G.R., Steene, R.C. & Orchard, M. 2007. Fishes of Christmas Island. Christmas Island : Christmas Island Natural History Association 2 edn, 284 pp.

Allen, G.R. & Swainston, R. 1988. The Marine Fishes of North-Western Australia. A field guide for anglers and divers. Perth, WA : Western Australian Museum vi 201 pp., 70 pls.

Choat, J.H., van Herwerden, L., Robbins, W.D., Hobbs, J.P. & Ayling, A.M. 2006. A report on the ecological surveys undertaken at Middleton and Elizabeth Reefs, February 2006. Report by James Cook University to the Department of the Environment and Heritage. 65 pp.

Coleman, N. 1981. Australian Sea Fishes North of 30°S. Lane Cove, NSW : Doubleday Australia Pty Ltd 297 pp.

Craig, M.T., Sadovy de Mitcheson, Y.J. & Heemstra, P.C. 2011. Groupers of the World: a Field and Market Guide. Grahamstown, South Africa : NISC Ltd 356 pp., Appendix 47 pp.

Forsskål, P. 1775. Descriptiones animalium Avium, Amphibiorum, Piscium, Insectorum, Vermium; quae in itinere orientali observavit Petrus Forskål. Post mortem auctoris edidit Carsten Niebuhr. Adjuncta est materia medica kahirina atque tabula maris rubri geographica. Hauniae : Mölleri 1-19, i-xxxiv, 164 pp., 43, pls.

Francis, M. 1993. Checklist of the coastal fishes of Lord Howe, Norfolk, and Kermadec Islands, southwest Pacific Ocean. Pacific Science 47(2): 136-170 figs 1-2

Gill, A.C. & Reader, S.E. 1992. Fishes. pp. 90-93, 193-228 in Hutchings, P. (ed.). Reef Biology. A Survey of Elizabeth and Middleton Reefs, South Pacific. Canberra : Australian National Parks Vol. 3, Kowari 230 pp.


Gloerfelt-Tarp, T. & Kailola, P.J. 1984. Trawled Fishes of Southern Indonesia and Northwest Australia. Jakarta : Dir. Gen. Fish. (Indonesia), German Tech. Coop., Aust. Dev. Ass. Bur. 406 pp.

Grant, E.M. 2002. Guide to Fishes. Redcliffe : EM Grant Pty Ltd 880 pp.

Heemstra, P.C. & Randall, J.E. 1993. Groupers of the World (Family Serranidae, Subfamily Epinephelinae). An annotated and illustrated catalogue of grouper, rockcod, hind, coral grouper and lyretail species known to date. FAO Fisheries Synopsis No. 125 Vol. 16. Rome: FAO. pp. 1-382.

Heemstra, P.C. & Randall, J.E. 1999. Family Serranidae. pp. 2442-2548 in Carpenter, K.E. & Niem, T.H. (eds). The Living Marine Resources of the Western Central Pacific. FAO Species Identification Guide for Fisheries Purposes. Rome : FAO Vol. 4 2069-2790 pp.

Hobbs, J-P.A., Newman, S.J., Mitsopoulos, G.E.A., Travers, M.J., Skepper, C.L., Gilligan, J.J., Allen, G.R., Choat, H.J. & Ayling, A.M. 2014. Checklist and new records of Christmas Island fishes: the influence of isolation, biogeography and habitat availability on species abundance and community composition. Raffles Bulletin of Zoology Supplement 30: 184–202 


Hobbs, J-P.A., Newman, S .J., Mitsopoulos, G.E.A., Travers, M.J., Skepper, C.L., Gilligan, J.J., Allen, G.R., Choat, H.J. & Ayling, A.M. 2014. Fishes of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands: new records, community composition and biogeographic significance. Raffles Bulletin of Zoology Supplement 30: 203–219 

Hutchins, J.B. 2001. Biodiversity of shallow reef fish assemblages in Western Australia using a rapid censusing technique. Records of the Western Australian Museum 20: 247-270.

Hutchins, J.B. 2003. Checklist of marine fishes of the Dampier Archipelago, Western Australia. pp. 453-478 in Wells, F.E., Walker, D.I., & Jones, D.S. (eds). Proceedings of the Eleventh International Marine Biological Workshop: The Marine Flora and Fauna of Dampier, Western Australia. Perth : Western Australian Museum. 

Johnson, J.W. 2010. Fishes of the Moreton Bay Marine Park and adjacent continental shelf waters, Queensland, Australia. pp. 299-353 in Davie, P.J.F. & Phillips, J.A. Proceedings of the Thirteenth International Marine Biological Workshop, The Marine Fauna and Flora of Moreton Bay. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 54(3)

Klausewitz, W. & Nielsen, J.G. 1965. On Forsskål's collection of fishes in the Zoological Museum of Copenhagen. Spolia Zoologica Musei Hauniensis 22: 1-29, Pls. 1-38.


Kuiter, R.H. 1996. Guide to Sea Fishes of Australia. A comprehensive reference for divers and fishermen. Sydney, NSW, Australia : New Holland Publishers xvii, 434 pp.

Larson, H.K., Williams, R.S. & Hammer, M.P. 2013. An annotated checklist of the fishes of the Northern Territory, Australia. Zootaxa 3696(1): 1-293


Newman, S.J., Williams, D. & Russ, G.R. 1997. Patterns of zonation of assemblages of the Lutjanidae, Lethrinidae and Serranidae (Epinephelinae) within and among mid-shelf and outer-shelf reefs in the central Great Barrier Reef. Marine and Freshwater Research 48: 119-128.

Oxley, W.G., Ayling, A.M., Cheal, A.J. & Osborne, K. 2004. Marine surveys undertaken in the Elizabeth and Middleton Reefs Marine National Nature Reserve, December 2003. Townsville : Australian Institute of Marine Sciences 64 pp.

Pears, R.J. 2005. Comparative demography and assemblage structure of serranid fishes: implications for conservation and fisheries management. PhD thesis, James Cook University. See ref online


Randall, J.E. 2005. Reef and shore fishes of the South Pacific. New Caledonia to Tahiti and the Pitcairn Islands. Honolulu : University of Hawaii Press 707 pp.

Randall, J.E., Allen, G.R. & Steene, R. 1997. Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea. Bathurst : Crawford House Press 557 pp. figs.

Randall, J.E. & Heemstra, P.C. 1991. Revision of Indo-Pacific groupers (Perciformes: Serranidae: Epinephelinae), with descriptions of five new species. Indo-Pacific Fishes 20: 1-332.

Rocha, L.A. 2018. Cephalopholis miniata. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2018: e.T132732A100455926. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T132732A100455926.en. Accessed on 13 March 2025.


Shpigel, M. & Fishelson, L.1989. Food habits and prey selection of three species of groupers from the genus Cephalopholis (Serranidae: Teleostei). Environmental Biology of Fishes 24(1): 67-73.

Tanaka, S. 1911. Figures and Descriptions of the Fishes of Japan, including Riukiu Islands, Bonin Islands, Formosa, Kurile Islands, Korea and southern Sakhalin. Tokyo Vol. 2 pp. 19-34, pls 6-10. (described as Cephalopholis formosanus, type locality Keelung, Taihoku, Taiwan).

Quick Facts


CAAB Code:37311083

Conservation:IUCN Least Concern

Depth:1-120 m

Fishing:Commercial, recreational fish

Habitat:Reef associated

Max Size:50 cm TL

Species Maps

CAAB distribution map