Yellowspotted Rockcod, Epinephelus areolatus (Forsskal 1775)
Other Names: Areolate Grouper, Areolate Rock Cod, Areolate Rockcod, Areolated Grouper, Green-spotted Rock-cod, Squaretail Grouper, Squaretail Rock-cod, Yellow Spot Rock Cod, Yellow Spotted Rock Cod, Yellow Spotted Rockcod, Yellow-spotted Rockcod, Yellow-spotted Rock-cod
A Yellowspotted Rockcod, Epinephelus areolatus, at Tulamben, Bali, Indonesia. Source: Dennis Polack / FishWise Professional. License: CC by Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
Summary:
A pale grouper with a dense covering of large round orange to brown spots that become more numerous and relatively smaller as the fish grows, and a truncate tail with a narrow white margin.
Cite this page as:
Bray, D.J. 2019, Epinephelus areolatus in Fishes of Australia, accessed 21 Apr 2024, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/home/species/4663
Yellowspotted Rockcod, Epinephelus areolatus (Forsskal 1775)
More Info
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Distribution |
North West Cape and offshore reefs of north Western Australia to off Bowen, Queensland; also reefs in the Lord Howe Island region in the Tasman Sea. Elsewhere the species occurs in the tropical, Indo-west-central Pacific. Inhabits soft sediment areas adjacent to reefs. |
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Features |
Dorsal fin XI, 15-17; Anal fin III, 8; Pectoral fin 17-19; Gill rakers (first arch) 8-10 + 14-16; Lateral-line scales 49-53; Pyloric caeca 11-17. Body depth less than head length, 2.7-3.3 in SL (for specimens 14-31 cm SL); head length 2.4-2.8 in SL; preopercle with 2-7 enlarged serrae at the angle; upper edge of operculum straight or slightly convex; midlateral part of lower jaw with 2 rows of teeth. Body scales ctenoid, cycloid scales on thorax and ventrally on abdomen; body with auxiliary scales.Anal fin of adults rounded to slightly angular, longest soft ray 2.0-2.6 in HL; caudal fin slightly convex in juveniles, truncate or slightly emarginate in adults. |
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Colour |
Colour of head, body, and fins pale, covered with numerous close-set brown, brownish yellow or greenish yellow spots (becoming smaller and increase in number as growth increases), the largest about size of pupil, those on front of head smaller than those on operculum; pectoral fins pale, with small dark spots on the rays; posterior edge of caudal fin with a distinct white margin. |
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Feeding |
Feed on fishes and benthic invertebrates, mainly prawns and crabs. |
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Fisheries |
The species is taken in commercial trawl fisheries in northern Australia, and is also taken on hook and line by recreational anglers. |
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Similar Species |
The Yellowspotted Rockcod lacks the dark blotches along the dorsal-fin base of the similar Frostback Rockcod, Epinephelus bilobatus. |
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Species Citation |
Perca areolata Forskål 1775. Descriptiones Animalium: 42. Type locality: Jeddah, Red Sea. |
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Author |
Bray, D.J. 2019 |
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Resources |
Yellowspotted Rockcod, Epinephelus areolatus (Forsskal 1775)
References
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Allen, G.R. & Erdmann, M.V. 2012. Reef fishes of the East Indies. Perth : Tropical Reef Research 3 vols, 1260 pp.
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Boulenger, G.A. 1895. Catalogue of the Fishes in the British Museum. Catalogue of the perciform fishes. London : British Museum Vol. 1 394 pp. 15 pls.
Craig, M.T., Pondella II, D.J., Franck, J.P.C. & Hafner, J.C. 2001. On the status of the serranid fish genus Epinephelus: evidence for paraphyly based upon 16S rDNA sequence. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 19(1): 121-130.
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Forskål, P. 1775. Descriptiones Animalium Avium, Amphibiorum, Piscium, Insectorum, Vermium; quæ in Itinere Orientali observavit Petrus Forskål. Post Mortem Auctoris edidit Carsten Niebuhr. Adjuncta est Materia Medica Kakirina atque Tabula Maris Rubri Geographica. Hauniæ : Mölleri 1-19, i-xxxiv, 164 pp., 1 map. See ref at BHL
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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 pp. 2069-2790.
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Leis, J.M. 1987. Review of the early life history of tropical groupers (Serranidae) and snappers (Lutjanidae), pp. 189-237. In: Polovina, J.J. & Ralston, S. (eds). Tropical Snappers and Groupers. Biology and Fisheries Management, Westview Press, Boulder, USA.
Ma, K.Y. & Craig, M.T. 2018. An Inconvenient Monophyly: An update on the taxonomy of the groupers (Epinephelidae). Copeia 106(3): 443–456. https://doi.org/10.1643/CI-18-055
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. 1990. Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea. Bathurst : Crawford House Press 507 pp. figs.
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.
Russell, B.C. & Houston, W. 1989. Offshore fishes of the Arafura Sea. The Beagle, Records of the Museums and Art Galleries of the Northern Territory 6(1): 69-84
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