Foursaddle grouper (Epinephelus spilotoceps) is a saltwater species recorded in Taiwan. It is mainly found over reef, at depths of 0–30 m.
Scientific name: Epinephelus spilotoceps · Water: Saltwater
Size: up to 47.5 cm
The foursaddle grouper is a serranid that lives on lagoon patch reefs, the upper slopes of channels and reef margins. It is carnivorous and usually solitary. Very little of its biology has been published. Its range covers the Indo-West Pacific from the east coast of Africa to the Line Islands; apart from African coastal records from Zanzibar and Tanzania to Ponta Zavora in Mozambique it appears to be primarily an insular species, present at most and probably all of the islands of the tropical Indian and west-central Pacific. It is not known from the Red Sea, the Persian Gulf, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Taiwan, Japan or Australian waters. It lives from the surface to about 30 m and reaches about 47.5 cm total length and up to about 1.5 kg. It supports commercial fisheries and is a game fish, selling in the highest price band. IUCN lists it as least concern. Trophic level is 3.8, fishing vulnerability moderate at 39 of 100, and resilience medium.
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