Author: Bloch and Schneider, 1801
Epinephelus malabaricus Bloch and Schneider, 1801
Status in World Register of Marine Species:
Accepted name: Epinephelus malabaricus (Bloch and Schneider, 1801) (updated 2009-06-25)
Diagnosis: body elongate. D XI + 14-16; A III + 8; caudal fin rounded. Colour: grey or greenish light brown; five vertical darker bands often bifurcate ventrally, many dark spots on head and trunk, often small whitish spots in adults. Size: to over 90 cm SL.
Habitat: coral reefs, also in estuarine areas and turbid waters. Solitary. Food: fishes, crustaceans, cephalopods. Reproduction: no data.
Distribution: reported (as E. tauvina) from Haifa (Israel) as immigrant into the Mediterranean. Elsewhere, Red Sea, Indian Ocean and Western Pacific.