Areolate grouper (Epinephelus areolatus) is a saltwater species recorded in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia. It is mainly found over reef, coral, rocky, seagrass, at depths of 6–200 m.
Scientific name: Epinephelus areolatus · Water: Saltwater
Size: up to 47 cm
Weight: up to 1.4 kg
The Areolate grouper is a bottom-dwelling Epinephelus with a whitish-grey body densely covered in round brown spots and a truncate tail carrying a straight white margin, the easiest way to tell it apart from its relatives. Hong Kong calls it the sesame grouper and Malaysia lumps it in under the general name kerapu. It lives on shallow continental-shelf ground over seagrass and fine sediment next to rocky reef and dead coral, with juveniles common down to 80 m. No season has been verified, it reaches about 47 cm and 1.4 kg, lives up to 15 years, ranges from 6 to 200 m, and IUCN lists it as Least Concern. It is common off western and southern Taiwan and Penghu and appears in the OCA angling report. In Malaysia it turns up around Redang, the Perhentians and Kapas off Terengganu, Tioman and Aur off Pahang, the Tunku Abdul Rahman Park near Kota Kinabalu down to Sipadan in Sabah, and the reefs off Miri and Bintulu in Sarawak, fished from a boat with squid or cut fish dropped down the reef edge, best from dusk into the night; a hooked fish heads straight for its hole, so pump it off the bottom immediately.
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