Description

Also known as Charcoal Belly, Gag Grouper, Gag-velvet Rockfish, Velvet Rockfish.

Found singly, or in large schools, over rocky bottoms, in seagrass beds, around ledges and wrecks, of inshore and offshore reefs.
They feed on cephalopods, crustaceans, and small fish.
Length - 140cm
Depth - 30-160m
Widespread Western Atlantic, Caribbean

Groupers are solitary carnivores that hunt near the bottom usually at dusk. Food is drawn into their mouths by a powerful suction when they open their overly large mouths and then swallowed whole.
Spawning is seasonal and controlled by the moons phase. Ref: https://www.fishbase.se/summary/Mycteroperca-microlepis