Epinephelus rivulatus

Epinephelus rivulatus (also known as halfmoon grouper, halfmoon rockcod, Chinaman rockcod, Charlie court cod, green-finned rock cod, or white-dotted grouper) is a fish in the grouper genus Epinephelus.

Halfmoon grouper

Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Perciformes
Family: Serranidae
Subfamily: Epinephelinae
Tribe: Epinephelini
Genus: Epinephelus
Species:
E. rivulatus
Binomial name
Epinephelus rivulatus
(Valenciennes, 1830)
Synonyms
  • Serranus rivulatus Valenciennes, 1830
  • Epinephelus grammatophorus Boulenger, 1903
  • Epinephelus homosinensis Whitley, 1944
  • Epinephelus matterni Fowler, 1918
  • Epinephelus raymondi Ogilby, 1908
  • Epinephelus rhyncholepis (Bleeker, 1853)
  • Epinephelus spiramen Whitley, 1945
  • Serranus rhyncholepis Bleeker, 1853
  • Serranus rhyncolepis Bleeker, 1853 (misspelling)
  • Serranus rivulatus Valenciennes, 1830
  • Serranus viridipinnis De Vis, 1884

It is a marine species, associated with coral reefs in the Indo-Pacific region, inhabiting the eastern coast of Africa, coastal China and Vietnam, southern Japan, western Australia and eastern Indonesia, the Philippines, and the west coast of Australia north to Papua New Guinea. Its range includes northern New Zealand, and it was first recorded from the Kermadec Islands Marine Reserve north of New Zealand in 2015, after researchers examined hundreds of hours of unused documentary film footage.[2][3]

Juvenile
Near Durban, South Africa

This species is found from rocky substrates and seagrass beds to coral reefs. Its diet includes shrimps, crabs, and small fishes. E. rivulatus lives from 1 to 150 m (3.3 to 492.1 ft) deep. Its maximum length is 45 cm (18 in), and weight reaches 1.4 kg (3.1 lb).[4] It is the only known host of the parasite Pseudorhabdosynochus inversus, which inhabits its gills.[5]

References
  1. Fennessy, S. 2018. Epinephelus rivulatus . The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2018: e.T132736A100558117. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T132736A100558117.en. Downloaded on 16 March 2020.
  2. Liggins, Libby; Sweatman, Jenny Ann; Trnski, Thomas; Duffy, Clinton A. J.; Eddy, Tyler D.; Aguirre, J. David (2020). "Natural history footage provides new reef fish biodiversity information for a pristine but rarely visited archipelago". Scientific Reports. 10 (1): 1–7. doi:10.1038/s41598-020-60136-w.
  3. Hancock, Farah (16 March 2020). "New species accidentally discovered on film". Newsroom. Retrieved 2020-03-16.
  4. Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2020). "Epinephelus rivulatus" in FishBase. March 2020 version.
  5. Justine, Jean-Lou (2008). "Pseudorhabdosynochus inversus sp. nov. (Monogenea, Diplectanidae) from the halfmoon grouper Epinephelus rivulatus (Perciformes, Serranidae) off New Caledonia". Acta Parasitologica. 53 (4). doi:10.2478/s11686-008-0057-0.
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