Species Type:
Fishes
Common Name(s):
Gag grouper
Size:
Gag groupers can grow to be 58 inches (1.57 meters) long and weight up to 81 pounds (36.7 kilograms).
Diet:
Gag groupers are carnivorous feeding off of smaller grouper, snappers, grunts, crabs, shrimp and squid.
Range & Habitat:
The gag grouper is found from North Carolina to Brazil. Juveniles stay in seagrass beds and estuaries, while adults prefer rocky ledges, shipwrecks, and reefs in deep waters.
Details:
Gag groupers spawn several times from January to March, producing up to 1.7 million eggs each time. These fish are protogynous hermaphrodites, transitioning from female to male at 10-15 years. When feeding, they quickly open their large mouths to create a vacuum, sucking in fish, shrimp, or squid.