• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
• /
• v.13 no.4
• /
• pp.340-342
• /
• 2010

One specimen of Epinephelus areolatus, belonging to the subfamily Epinephelinae of the family Serranidae, was collected by a hook from commercial longline fisheries in the coastal waters of Jeju Island, Korea. This species is mostly similar to E. chlorostigma, but the former is distinguished from the latter by having larger brown spots and a white posterior margin on the caudal fin. We propose a new Korean name "Dae-moon-ba-ri" for E. areolatus.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
• /
• v.26 no.6
• /
• pp.380-392
• /
• 2023

Groupers (Family Epinephelidae) are commonly caught in data-poor small-scale multi-species fisheries for sale on both export and domestic markets. This study presents data on the species composition and size/life-stage structure of Epinephelus spp. groupers caught by small-scale fishers and sold locally in the Indonesian province of South Sulawesi. Data were collected from fishing ports and local markets at 12 sites representing the three seaways around South Sulawesi (Makassar Strait, Flores Sea, Gulf of Bone). Each specimen (n = 3,398) was photographed alongside an object of known length, and total length (TL) was obtained using the Rapid Scaling on Object (RASIO). Of the 23 species identified, four (Epinephelus areolatus, Epinephelus ongus, Epinephelus quoyanus, and Epinephelus fasciatus) collectively comprised 69% of the catch, while the 13 least abundant species contributed less than 5%. The catch was dominated (67%) by the subadult life-stage, with just under 20% in the adult class. Juveniles dominated the catch of Epinephelus fuscoguttatus, a valuable export commodity. Observations of early maturity as well as the sizeable gap between length at first capture (Lc) and length at first maturity (Lm) indicate recruitment overfishing of most species, with the notable exception of Epinephelus rivulatus. The proportion of adult fish was low (≈5%-30%) for the twelve most abundant species (E. areolatus, E. ongus, Epinephelus quoyanus, E. fasciatus, Epinephelus coioides, Epinephelus faveatus, Epinephelus sexfasciatus, Epinephelus maculatus, Epinephelus bleekeri, Epinephelus corallicola, E. fuscoguttatus, Epinephelus polyphekadion). For two moderately abundant species (E. faveatus and E. malabaricus), TL < Lm for all specimens. The limited data available indicate spawning ratio is lower than reported from deep-water fisheries of E. areolatus and E. coioides. The results call for targeted research to fill knowledge gaps regarding the biology and ecology of groupers exploited mainly for domestic markets; highlight the need for species-level data to inform management policies such as minimum legal size regulations; and can contribute towards species-level status assessments.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
• /
• v.37 no.5
• /
• pp.414-422
• /
• 2004

To infer phylogenetic relationships among Epinephelus species inhabiting coastal regions of Korean peninsula, mitochondrial cytochrome b genes from 9 species belonging to the subfamily Epinephelinae were PCR-amplified, cloned and sequenced. Aligned cytochrome b sequences of 10 species containing one additional sequence from GenBank were 1,140 base pairs in length, including 439 variable and 330 parsimony informative sites. The cytochrome b genes of 10 species, as other vertebrates studied to date, exhibit unequal base compositions: an entirely low G content ($15.2{\pm}0.3{\%}$on average) and almost equal T, C and A contents ($29.3{\pm}0.8{\%},\;30.7{\pm}1.0{\%},\;and\;24.8{\pm}0.5{\%}$ on average, respectively).In third codon positions, transitional substitutions especially between Epinephelus species and outgroup species are almost certainly saturated or near saturation. Phylogenetic analyses were performed with sequence data from 8 Epinephelus species and 2 outgroup species (Cephalopholis urodela and Vaviola louti) by using distance-based (neighbor-joining and minimum evolution) and parsimony-based (maximum parsimony) methods. The results showed that the monophyly of the genus Epinephelus was supported by relatively high bootstrap values. However, phylogenetic relationships among E. areolatus, E. moara, E. septemfasciatus, and Epinephelus sp were poorly resolved. Within the genus Epinephelus, three resolved monophyletic groups were found: clade 1 included E. akaara and E. awoara;, clade 2 included E. fasciatus and E. merra; and clade 3 included E. akaara, E. awoara, E. fasciatus, E. merra, E. areolatus, E. moara, E. septemfasciatus and Epinephelus Sp.