Groupers & Sea Basses
Red Hind
Epinephelus guttatus
Species Overview
Medium grouper, greenish-gray to light brown above grading to white below, covered with many dull orange-red to brown spots; darker spots form about five faint diagonal bars on the sides; dorsal fin 11 spines and 15-16 soft rays, anal 3 spines and 8 soft rays.
- Size
- Typically 25-60 cm (10 in-2 ft) per ReefGuide; common length 40 cm TL; maximum recorded 76 cm TL (30 in) and 25 kg; lives to 22 years.
- Habitat
- Shallow coral reefs and rocky bottoms; oceanodromous.
- Diet
- Crabs and other crustaceans (alpheid shrimps, slipper lobsters), fishes such as wrasses and grunts, and octopus.
- Range
- Caribbean, Bahamas, Florida, Bermuda and Gulf of America; western Atlantic from North Carolina to Paraiba, Brazil; the most common Epinephelus in the West Indies.
Life stages
Not documented in sources checked; ReefGuide shows only adult photos. Some fish change sex at about 28 cm, and most over 40 cm are males.
Explore reef conservation
Learn about Caribbean reef habitats, invasive lionfish and the work of the Caribbean Reef Fish Foundation.
TL means total length; SL excludes the tail fin; FL measures to the tail fork. These measurements are not interchangeable.