Six-Lined Soapfish

Scientific Name: Grammistes sexlineatus
Family: Soapfishes - Serranidae
Maximum Size: 27cm
Identification: Black with 6-9 white to gold stripes.
Favourite: Solitary.
Hide-out: Under ledges or in recesses of lagoons, reef flats or seaward reefs to 20m.
Location: Indo-Pacific - Red Sea and E. Africa to Marquesas Is. in French Polynesia. S.W. Japan to Australia.

Blubberlip

Scientific Name: Plectorhinchus gibbosus
Family: Sweetlips - Haemulidae
Maximum Size: 60cm
Identification: Gray to brown with charcoal-gray head; black margin on cheek and gill cover, dark outlines around scales, may display dusky wide bar on back and forebody; high back profile.
Favourite: Solitary.
Hide-out: Coastal reefs, lagoons and outer slopes to 25m.
Location: Indo-West Pacific - Red Sea and E. Africa to Samoa. S.W. Japan to Australia.

Ocellated Soapfish

Scientific Name: Grammistops ocellatus
Family: Soapfishes - Serranidae
Maximum Size: 13cm
Identification: Brown with large pale-edged dark brown to blackish spot on gill cover. Similar Mottled Soapfish has larger scales and is mottled.
Favourite: Solitary or in pairs; cryptic.
Hide-out: Deep inside caves and crevices of lagoons and outer slopes in 8-30m.
Location: Indo-Pacific - E. Africa to Society Is. in French Polynesia. S.W. Japan to Australia.

Mottled Soapfish

Scientific Name: Pseudogramma polyacanthum
Family: Soapfishes - Serranidae
Maximum Size: 7.5cm
Identification: Mottled brown; large pale-edged dark spot on gill cover. Similar to Ocellated Soapfish has much smaller scales and is not mottled.
Favourite: Solitary and cryptic.
Hide-out: Caves and crevices of coral reefs in 1-61m.
Location: Indo-Pacific - E. Africa to Pitcaim Is. east of French Polynesia. S.W. Japan to Australia.

Doublebanded Soapfish

Scientific Name: Diploprion bifasciatum
Family: Soapfishes - Serranidae
Maximum Size: 25cm
Identification: Yellow head, body and fins; dark brown to black eye bar and broad bar from mid-dorsal fin to anal fin.
Favourite: Solitary or form small groups.
Hide-out: Coastal reefs, often in turbid water in 1-18m.
Location: Indo-Asian Pacific - India and Maldives to Papua New Guinea. S.W. Japan to Australia and Vanuatu.

Goldstriped Sweetlips

Scientific Name: Plectorhinchus chrysotaenia
Family: Sweetlips - Haemulidae
Maximum Size: 50cm
Identification: Silvery-blue with numerous yellow stripes, bright yellow fins.
Favourite: Solitary or form groups.
Hide-out: Coral-rich areas of coastal reefs and lagoons in 6-70m.
Location: Asian Pacific - S.W. Japan and Molucca Is. in Indonesia to Great Barrier Reef and New Caledonia.

Arrowhead Soapfish

Scientific Name: Belonoperca chabanaudi
Family: Soapfishes - Serranidae
Maximum Size: 15cm
Identification: Long slender body and elongate pointed head; dark bluish gray with black speckling; yellow spot on tail base, blue-rimmed black blotches on dorsal and ventral fins.
Favourite: Solitary.
Hide-out: Caves and crevices on steep outer reef slopes in 4-50m.
Location: Indo-West Pacific - E. Africa to Samoa. S.W. Japan to Australia.

Marbled Hawkfish

Scientific Name: Cirrhitus pinnulatus
Family: Hawkfishes - Cirrhitidae
Maximum Size: 28cm
Identification: Blotchy brown with white spots on body. One of the larger hawkfishes.
Favourite: Solitary.
Hide-out: Seaward reefs in wave-affected areas to 3m.
Location: Indo-Pacific - Red Sea and E. Africa to Rapa and Marquesas Is. in French Polynesia. S.W. Japan to Australia.

False Scorpionfish

Scientific Name: Centrogenys vaigiensis
Family: False Scorpionfishes - Centrogeniidae
Maximum Size: 15cm
Identification: Mottled brown with numerous dark blotches; dark bands on fins except dorsal which has spots and long spines, also variation with nearly solid orange body and white fins. Resembles a scorpionfish, possibly to discourage predators.
Favourite: Solitary or groups.
Hide-out: Estuaries and silty coastal reefs in 2-10m.
Location: Indo-Asian Pacific - India to N.W. Australia, north to S.W. Japan.

Squaretail Coral Grouper

Scientific Name: Plectropomus areolatus
Family: Groupers - Serranidae
Maximum Size: 80cm
Identification: Whitish to pale gray with numerous small dark-edged blue spots on head, body and fins; frequently with 4-5 dark blotches forming saddles on back.
Favourite: Solitary.
Hide-out: Coastal reefs, lagoons and outer reefs in 2-20m.
Location: Indo-West Pacific - Red Sea to Samoa and Phoenix Is. S.W. Japan to Australia.

Spotted Coral Grouper

Scientific Name: Plectropomus maculatus
Family: Groupers - Serranidae
Maximum Size: 125cm
Identification: Red, pale gray or olive to dark brown with numerous small blue spots on body and fins; elongate blue spots on head, blue margin on tail, blue ring around eye.
Favourite: Solitary.
Hide-out: Silty coastal reefs in 5-50m.
Location: Asian Pacific - Malaysian Peninsula and Philippines to Papua New Guinea and Australia.

Roving Coral Grouper

Scientific Name: Plectropomus pessuliferus
Family: Groupers - Serranidae
Maximum Size: 120cm
Identification: Brown to orange-red or olive with numerous small dark-edged round and vertically elongate blue spots; may display 5-6 dark bars on upper body.
Favourite: Solitary.
Hide-out: Coastal, platform and outer reefs in 10-147m.
Location: Indian Ocean - Red Sea and E. Africa to Sumatra in Indonesia, but one individual recorded from Fiji in the Pacific.

Leopard Coral Grouper

Scientific Name: Plectropomus leopardus
Family: Groupers - Serranidae
Maximum Size: 70cm
Identification: Red, pale gray or olive to dark brown with small blue spots on head, body and fins; blue margin on tail, ring around eye, may display bars.
Favourite: Solitary.
Hide-out: Coastal and lagoon reefs in 3-100m.
Location: West Pacific - South China Sea and S.W. Japan to Australia and Fiji.

Highfin Coral Grouper

Scientific Name: Plectropomus oligacanthus
Family: Groupers - Serranidae
Maximum Size: 75cm
Identification: Red to reddish brown to lavender-brown with blue lines on head; blue spots on body and fins with some that join to form vertical lines on mid-side.
Favourite: Solitary.
Hide-out: Steep slopes in 5-147m.
Location: Asian Pacific - Indonesia, Philippines and Marshall Is. in Micronesia to Australia.

Blacksaddle Coral Grouper

Scientific Name: Plectropomus laevis
Family: Groupers - Serranidae
Maximum Size: 125cm
Identification: Pale Variation - Whitish with 4 black saddles on body and black band above eye, fins yellow. Generally smaller than the dark form and is possibly restricted to juveniles and females.
Favourite: Solitary.
Hide-out: Lagoons and seaward reefs in 4-90m.
Location: Indo-Pacific - E. Africa to Tuamoutus Is. in French Polynesia. S.W. Japan to Great Barrier Reef.

Redmouth Grouper

Scientific Name: Aethaloperca rogaa
Family: Groupers - Serranidae
Maximum Size: 60cm
Identification: Dark brown to black, occasionally with orangish cast; frequently with pale bar across abdomen; inside mouth red.
Favourite: Solitary.
Hide-out: Usually inside or near caves or under ledges in coral-rich areas of seaward reefs in 3-50m.
Location: Indo-West Pacific - Red Sea and E. Africa to Fiji. S.W. Japan to Australia.

Wavy-Lined Grouper

Scientific Name: Epinephelus undulosus
Family: Groupers - Serranidae
Maximum Size: 50cm
Identification: Pale gray to reddish gray; small dark spots on head, dark wavy lines and spots on body, fins bluish on smaller fish.
Favourite: Solitary.
Hide-out: Coastal reefs, usually on open sand bottoms near low coral or rock outcroppings in 15-90m.
Location: Indo-Asian Pacific - E. Africa and Arabian Sea to Papua New Guinea, north to Taiwan.

Twinspot Grouper

Scientific Name: Epinephelus bilobatus
Family: Groupers - Serranidae
Maximum Size: 33cm
Identification: Light gray undercolor with polygonal spots in varying shades of brown; brilliant white strip on back, pair of blackish bi-lobed spots at base of dorsal fin.
Favourite: Solitary.
Hide-out: Coastal reefs with weed bottoms and scattered coral patches in 4-50m.
Location: Asian Pacific - N.W. Australia and islands just west of Irian Jaya in Indonesia.

Speckled-Fin Grouper

Scientific Name: Epinephelus ongus
Family: Groupers - Serranidae
Maximum Size: 35cm
Identification: Brown with large white blotches; numerous small pale spots on head, body and fins, the spots join to form wavy stripes on larger individuals.
Favourite: Solitary and cryptic.
Hide-out: Near caves and ledges of coastal and lagoon reefs in 5-25m.
Location: Indo-West Pacific - E. Africa to Fiji. S.W. Japan to Australia.

Speckled Grouper

Scientific Name: Epinephelus cyanopodus
Family: Groupers - Serranidae
Maximum Size: 120cm
Identification: Pale bluish gray; profuse small black spots on head, body and fins. Juveniles and sub-adults have black margin on tail and black ventral fin tips.
Favourite: Solitary.
Hide-out: Lagoons and outer reefs over sand bottoms near patch reefs to 150m.
Location: West Pacific - S. China Sea and Marshall Is. in Micronesia to Fiji. S.W. Japan to Australia.