Weird n' Wild Creatures Wiki
Register
Advertisement

This huge fish looks too bulky and slow to present much of a threat, but it's a major predator in the warm oceans of the world. This fish can change the color and pattern of its skin to hide from prey; the camouflage allows it to draw close enough for its ultra-wide mouth to suck in the victims. The grouper can live for decades, and even changes sex to keep the species thriving.

Big Gulp: This huge fish's mouth works like an industrial-sized vacuum. When a grouper opens its jaws, water rushes inside, creating a strong current nearby that sucks in smaller fish that are nearby.

Quick Change: Some groupers are so big so they would seem easy to see, but this fish can instantly change the color and pattern of its skin. This helps the grouper creep up on unsuspecting prey, and also keeps young grouper children hidden from predators.

Annual Meeting[]

Grouper Back Image

A big grouper dwarfs this scuba diver.

At the same time every year, schools of grouper swim to a specific area in the ocean to breed. Though the times and places are different for various species, each fish goes through a yearly ritual of egg laying and fertilizing, but with one difference each year-new males. All young groupers are female, but an amazing change happens between the ages of seven and ten-they turn into males. This way, only groupers that have been clever enough to survive are able to pass their male genes to the next generation; hopefully that will make the offspring fit to survive as well.

Spike: A grouper's dorsal fin is made of stiff and spiky rays. A young, small grouper is a target for predators, and this fin provides a defensive weapon.

Housekeeping: Cleaner shrimp and fish called wrasse would be nice snacks for the grouper, but the fish lets the shrimp and wrasse climb in and out of its mouth freely. These creatures eat dead skin and parasites from the grouper's mouth.

Hidden Agenda[]

  1. On the hunt, a grouper swims slowly through a coral reef. The grouper doesn't look like a standard predator, so a small fish pays it little attention. The grouper bides its time, knowing that if it strikes too early, the small fish, and other prey in the area, will be scared away.
  2. The small fish doesn't recognize the danger, so it swims closer as it looks for a meal of its own. In a flash, the grouper opens its cavernous mouth and sucks the fish inside. Small, needle-sharp teeth in the grouper's jaw prevent the fish from escaping.

Trivia[]

  • The species featured in the front illustration is likely an Atlantic Goliath Grouper (Epinephelus itajara).
    • The grouper with the diver is likely a potato cod (Epinephelus tukula).
    • A leopard coral grouper, called by its other common name 'coral trout' (Plectropomus leopardus) is eaten by a Blue-Ringed Octopus on the latter's knowledge card.
Advertisement