Longtooth grouper (Epinephelus bruneus) is a saltwater species recorded in Hong Kong, Taiwan. It is mainly found over reef, rocky, mud, at depths of 20–200 m. The main season in Hong Kong, Taiwan runs all year.
Scientific name: Epinephelus bruneus · Water: Saltwater · Season: All year
Size: up to 128 cm
The Longtooth grouper is a massive species blotched in brown, living on deep rocky reefs and muddy ground from 20 to 200 m, with juveniles in shallower water. Hong Kong calls it the oil grouper, Taiwan the brown grouper. Targetable all year and reaching about 128 cm, it is a dream trophy of Taiwanese deep-sea boat fishing off Penghu, the north-east coast and eastern Taiwan, hunted with heavy rock gear, large jigs or live-bait bottom rigs, and it fights for a very long time once hooked. Listed as Vulnerable, and commercially cultured in Japan.
The body is elongate, its standard length 3.0 to 3.6 times its depth, and the dorsal profile of the head between the eyes is convex; the angle of the preopercle carries notably enlarged serrations, and there is a small spine on the upper edge of the gill cover, which is itself convex. The dorsal fin has 11 spines and 13 to 15 soft rays, the anal fin 3 spines and 8 soft rays, and the lateral line counts 64 to 72 scales. Larger adults turn dark greyish brown and their faint back blotches may vanish altogether, replaced by small grey spots arranged in short longitudinal lines that give a mottled look; the lower margin of the anal fin and the lower corner of the caudal fin are edged in white, which is the most useful thing to look for. Juveniles are pale yellowish brown with six irregular diagonal dark bars carrying irregular pale spots inside them, the first running from the nape to the eye and the last sitting on the caudal peduncle; three dark brown bands radiate from the lower part of the eye, and some juveniles have greenish-yellow membranes between the rearmost dorsal spines. Most fish are in fact only about 60 cm, and the heaviest recorded is 33 kg.
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