Name/Relations || Range/Sizes || Habitat & Habits ||  Notes

	Changes color to suit environment and can vary from gray to deep red, but retains splotches.

Common Name:Red Grouper
Other Common Names:
Scientific name:  Epinephelus morio
Family:  Serranidae (Sea Basses)
Related Species:  Jewfish, Nassau Grouper, Warsaw Grouper

Sizes:   To 20 lbs, common 1lb-5lbs.

Habitat: Juveniles inshore in estuaries and bays, adults in deeper water inshore and offshore in reefs, wrecks, jetties, pilings to depths over 300 feet.

Spawning Habits:  Changes gender- starts as female and becomes male as it ages.  Spawns over reefs and wrecks from 30 feet to 200 feet in depth, especially around the sea mounts off of western Florida in early spring. The eggs hatch and young hang near the surface and around vegetation, eventually taking residence inshore.

Feeding Habits:  If it moves and fits in its mouth, it is dinner.  An occasional cruiser, but primarily an ambush predator, that lurks in or near structure.  When a food item (mostly fishes) approaches, the grouper darts out and engulfs it, then retreats to its den.  Will also eat freshly dead fishes if they are presented near its lair.

Notes:  A party boat staple in the Gulf of Mexico, it is one of the most commonly caught groupers, often taken while pursuing red snappers. This grouper is a very popular target among bottom anglers, often taken while deep trolling large plugs slowly, or by dropping large live baits such as jumbo shrimp, smaller blue runners, cigar minnows, vermilion snappers, and finger mullet on  bottom  finder or egg weight rigs in water directly on top of reefs.  This fish can also change colors, adding to confusion when identifying it. Good size red groupers can also be taken in passes and bays in the winter, making it an option for pursuit when rough water prohibits offshore fishing.