Scientific Name	Epinephelus chlorostigma   Pronounce			by: Lab of Fish Ecol. and Evo., BRCAS
Author	(Valenciennes, 1828)	Depth	4 - 290M
Chinese	密點石斑魚	Poisonous Fish	No
Family_Chinese	鮨科	Economic Fish	Yes
Family	F338　Serranidae	Edible Fish	Yes	Chinese In Mainland China	密點石斑魚
Max Length	75 cm	Aquarium Fish	No	Common Name	石斑、過魚、白麻、碎米鱠、珠鱠
Distribution in World	India Ocean to West Pacific Ocean	Distribution in Taiwan	West、PonFu、ShaoLiuChew
Habitats	Coral、Benthos、Coastal、Lagoon	Holotype Locality	Seychelles
Synonyms	Serranus areolatus japonicus, Serranus assabensis, Serranus celebicus multipunctatus, Serranus chlorostigma, Serranus geoffroyi, Serranus reevesii, Serranus tauvina
Reference	臺灣魚類誌(沈等, 1993)；The Live Marine Resources of the Western Central Pacific, Vol.4(FAO,1999)  沈世傑 編 Shih-Chieh Shen ed. 1993 Carpenter, K. E. etc. 1999
Specimen List	ASIZP0054821. ASIZP0055541. ASIZP0063381. ASIZP0802637. FRIP20439. FRIP21799. FRIP21852. NMMBP00017. NMMBP01217. NMMBP04507. NMMBP06580. NTMP0576. NTUM00812.
Common Name	Brownspotted grouper; Brown-spotted grouper; Brownspotted rockcod; Grouper
Redlist Status	Not in IUCN Redlist
Characteristic	Dorsal fin with XI spines ＆ 16-18 rays; anal fin with III spines ＆ 8 soft rays. Live color whitish, with small dark brown spots on head, body, and fins except ventrally on head, thorax, and lower abdomen. Can assume a transient color phase of 3-4 rows of very large round dark spots on top of the small-spot pattern. 96-125 scales in longitudinal series. Pyloric caeca 26-52.
habitats	Found over a wide range of habitats like seagrass beds and outer reef slopes (Ref. 5213); in the South China Sea, it is also found on mud bottoms. Feeds on small fishes and crustaceans (mainly stomatopods and crabs). Sexual transition from female to male
Distribution	Indo-Pacific: Red Sea to Natal, South Africa and eastward to the western Pacific, north to southern Japan, south to New Caledonia. Records from Persian Gulf are apparently misidentifications of Epinephelus polylepis. Not verified from the Comoros, contine
Utility	It has commercial purposes in fisheries.