418
12 Species Case Studies
The translation of its name to ‘‘Lord of the Rock’’ (‘‘ita’’= rock, ‘‘jara’’ =lord),
provides a vivid description of this magnifi cent, top-level predator. Since its initial
description, the English common name was shifted from giant grouper, to jewfi sh
(Nelson et al. 2001 ) , to goliath grouper by the Committee on Names of Fishes of the
American Fisheries Society and the American Society of Ichthyologists and
Herpetologists, and in the recent split by Craig et al. ( 2009 ) to the Atlantic goliath
grouper and the Pacifi c goliath grouper. The giant grouper is now applied to the
Indo-Pacifi c species, E. lanceolatus .
This profi le addresses only the Atlantic species, which occurs in tropical waters
of the western and eastern Atlantic Ocean. In the western Atlantic, it ranges from
North Carolina to southern Brazil, including the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean
Sea. In the eastern Atlantic, its distribution extends from Senegal to Congo, although
it is rare in the Canary Islands.
12.4.2 Biology
The goliath grouper is one of the largest reef fi shes on earth, and the largest grouper
in the western Atlantic, reaching over 2 m in length and nearly 450 kg in weight
(Heemstra and Randall 1993 ) . The oldest individual known was 37 years old (female)
and 26 years (male) (Bullock et al. 1992 ) , but when that study was conducted, the
population was already heavily overfi shed, so individuals may live even longer.
Despite their large size, goliath groupers feed at a rather low trophic level, preying largely on crustaceans (e.g. crabs, spiny lobsters and shrimp), slow-moving,
typically bottom-associated fi shes (e.g. stingrays, catfi sh, toadfi sh, burrfi sh and
cowfi sh), but very few, if any, snappers or groupers. They may incidentally take
octopus, and young sea turtles (Randall 1967 ) . Goliath groupers ambush their prey,
combining rapid lunges with suction feeding to engulf prey and swallow them
whole. Their small sharp teeth prevent prey escape while their pharyngeal teeth
serve to ratchet prey to the stomach.
These fi sh have ontogenetically distinct habitat preferences, including an association with mangrove coastlines as juveniles and with offshore reefs as adults
(Koenig et al. 2007 ) . Males and females form spawning aggregations, making
spawning ascents from the reef while releasing gametes into the water column. The
fertilized eggs then disperse in water currents, and are presumed to develop in a
manner similar to that described for other Epinephelus species (see Colin et al.
1996 ; Sadovy and Eklund 1999 ) , wherein fertilized eggs hatch within two days and
develop into kite-shaped larvae with elongated second dorsal-fi n and pelvic-fi n
spines. Pelagic larvae are transported from offshore sites to inshore mangrove nursery habitat over a 35–80 day period, after which they metamorphose into benthic
juveniles at ~ 15 mm SL (Monica Lara, Jennifer Schull, David Jones and Robert
Allman unpublished data). The benthic juveniles occupy mangrove leaf litter initially before taking up residence along mangrove shorelines for the duration of their
extended (5–6 years) juvenile phase (Koenig et al. 2007 ; Lara et al. 2009 ) . Rarely
12 Species Case Studies
The translation of its name to ‘‘Lord of the Rock’’ (‘‘ita’’= rock, ‘‘jara’’ =lord),
provides a vivid description of this magnifi cent, top-level predator. Since its initial
description, the English common name was shifted from giant grouper, to jewfi sh
(Nelson et al. 2001 ) , to goliath grouper by the Committee on Names of Fishes of the
American Fisheries Society and the American Society of Ichthyologists and
Herpetologists, and in the recent split by Craig et al. ( 2009 ) to the Atlantic goliath
grouper and the Pacifi c goliath grouper. The giant grouper is now applied to the
Indo-Pacifi c species, E. lanceolatus .
This profi le addresses only the Atlantic species, which occurs in tropical waters
of the western and eastern Atlantic Ocean. In the western Atlantic, it ranges from
North Carolina to southern Brazil, including the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean
Sea. In the eastern Atlantic, its distribution extends from Senegal to Congo, although
it is rare in the Canary Islands.
12.4.2 Biology
The goliath grouper is one of the largest reef fi shes on earth, and the largest grouper
in the western Atlantic, reaching over 2 m in length and nearly 450 kg in weight
(Heemstra and Randall 1993 ) . The oldest individual known was 37 years old (female)
and 26 years (male) (Bullock et al. 1992 ) , but when that study was conducted, the
population was already heavily overfi shed, so individuals may live even longer.
Despite their large size, goliath groupers feed at a rather low trophic level, preying largely on crustaceans (e.g. crabs, spiny lobsters and shrimp), slow-moving,
typically bottom-associated fi shes (e.g. stingrays, catfi sh, toadfi sh, burrfi sh and
cowfi sh), but very few, if any, snappers or groupers. They may incidentally take
octopus, and young sea turtles (Randall 1967 ) . Goliath groupers ambush their prey,
combining rapid lunges with suction feeding to engulf prey and swallow them
whole. Their small sharp teeth prevent prey escape while their pharyngeal teeth
serve to ratchet prey to the stomach.
These fi sh have ontogenetically distinct habitat preferences, including an association with mangrove coastlines as juveniles and with offshore reefs as adults
(Koenig et al. 2007 ) . Males and females form spawning aggregations, making
spawning ascents from the reef while releasing gametes into the water column. The
fertilized eggs then disperse in water currents, and are presumed to develop in a
manner similar to that described for other Epinephelus species (see Colin et al.
1996 ; Sadovy and Eklund 1999 ) , wherein fertilized eggs hatch within two days and
develop into kite-shaped larvae with elongated second dorsal-fi n and pelvic-fi n
spines. Pelagic larvae are transported from offshore sites to inshore mangrove nursery habitat over a 35–80 day period, after which they metamorphose into benthic
juveniles at ~ 15 mm SL (Monica Lara, Jennifer Schull, David Jones and Robert
Allman unpublished data). The benthic juveniles occupy mangrove leaf litter initially before taking up residence along mangrove shorelines for the duration of their
extended (5–6 years) juvenile phase (Koenig et al. 2007 ; Lara et al. 2009 ) . Rarely