Redmouth grouper

Redmouth grouper
Conservation status
Data Deficient  (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Perciformes
Family:	Serranidae
Genus:	Aethaloperca
Species:	A.  rogaa
Binomial name
Aethaloperca rogaa Forsskål, 1775

Aethaloperca rogaa, the Redmouth grouper, is a fish in the Serranidae family. It is found in the Indo-West Pacific, Red Sea, South Africa and Gilbert Islands. It is considered a game fish.
Recent molecular analyses challenge the placement of this species in the genus Aethaloperca. In a study based on five different genes, it was included in the Cephalopholis clade, thus suggesting that the species should be included in the genus Cephalopholis and referred to as Cephalopholis rogaa.

Common Name

Redmouth grouper

Biology and Habitat

This fish inhabits coastal coral reefs, lagoons and underwater structures such as caves and shipwrecks. Usually they maintain a territory where they hunt for small prey like small fish and crustaceans, defending its hunting ground again competitors, just as shown on BBC's The Blue Planet wildlife series, where it defends its territory against the attack of an opportunistic lionfish. As a hunting technique they move slowly, swimming through shoals of small fish and occasionally swallowing one or more fish from the shoal.

Distribution

The redmouth grouper is found all around the Indian and Pacific Ocean, in territories such as Maldives, Red Sea, Gilbert Islands and also in the Persian Gulf.

Uses

The redmouth grouper is fished as a game and commercial fish where it is found, and in some places in the Pacific it is fished and exported to China. It is not common in the Aquarium trade.