Epinephelus faveatus

Characteristic features:

Colour:

Head and body pale, entirely covered with a network of close-set brownish spots of unequal size; pale interspaces forming a reticulum; 2 oblique dark bands on sides of chest; most fins yellowish between spots.

Size:

Up to 32 cm TL.

Distribution:

Indian Ocean in tropical waters.

Habitat:

Coral and rocky reefs, from 1 to 30 meters depth.

Indonesian fisheries:

Caught with hook-and-line, gill nets, lift nets, traps, and spear.

Similar species:

Epinephelus hexagonatus
Starspotted grouper

Epinephelus hexagonatus differ in having head and body with brownish polygonal spots that merge to leave white triangular dots between corners of polygons (vs. round, brownish close-set spots that do not merge) and no dark bands on chest (vs. 2 oblique bands on sides of chest).

to Epinephelus hexagonatus

Epinephelus macrospilos
Snubnose grouper

Epinephelus macrospilos differs in having 15–17 dorsal-fin rays (vs. 16–18); chest and pectoral-fin base with dark spots (vs. 2 oblique bands on sides of chest) and rear half of pectoral fins dark (vs. pale).

to Epinephelus macrospilos

Epinephelus melanostigma
Blackspot grouper

Epinephelus melanostigma differs in having a large, single black blotch half way along dorsal fin, covering the base of 3 dorsal-fin spines and extending onto body (vs. 4 groups of 2 or 3 spots along dorsal-fin base darker than others) and no dark bands on chest (vs. 2 oblique bands on sides of chest).

to Epinephelus melanostigma

Epinephelus merra
Honeycomb grouper

Epinephelus merra differs in having spots on pectoral fin distinctly smaller than spots on body (vs. spots almost subequal) and no dark bands on chest (vs. 2 oblique bands on sides of chest).

to Epinephelus merra

Epinephelus quoyanus
Longfin grouper

Epinephelus quoyanus differs in having pectoral fins larger, 1.2–1.7 times in head length (vs. smaller, 1.7–2.2 times in head length).

to Epinephelus quoyanus

Epinephelus spilotoceps
Foursaddle grouper

Epinephelus spilotoceps differs in having no dark bands on chest (vs. 2 oblique bands on sides of chest).

to Epinephelus spilotoceps

FishBase
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