Kelp Grouper

Epinephelus bruneus

Fish
IUCN: Vulnerable

Usual depth48–87 m
Water temperature26–28 °C
Best monthsJuly, August, and September
How commonCommon

Photo credit: (c) Totti, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist

About this species

Epinephelus bruneus, commonly known as the longtooth grouper, kelp grouper or jabari, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a grouper from the subfamily Epinephelinae which is part of the family Serranidae, which also includes the anthias and sea basses. It is found in northwest Pacific in eastern Asia, and in Japan is known as Kue.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Epinephelus bruneus”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

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Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 804 records
February: 488 records
March: 1,036 records
April: 2,377 records
May: 2,311 records
June: 3,047 records
July: 4,895 records
August: 3,795 records
September: 3,426 records
October: 2,871 records
November: 1,940 records
December: 2,135 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 48–87 m · Deepest record: 890 m

0–10 m: 6 records
10–20 m: 2 records
20–30 m: 19 records
30–40 m: 460 records
40–50 m: 2,899 records
50–60 m: 5,725 records
60–70 m: 6,317 records
70–80 m: 6,357 records
80–90 m: 4,683 records
90–100 m: 1,348 records
100–110 m: 377 records
110+ m: 539 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 26–28 °C

24–26 °C: 1 records
26–28 °C: 877 records
28–30 °C: 120 records

Photos

Names and classification

English: Kelp Grouper, Longtooth grouper, mudgrouper, Tawny Grouper

Names in 4 more languages

French: Mérou longues dents
Japanese: Kue, クエ
Korean: Cha-ba-ri
Simplified Chinese: Cao Ban, Hè Shí Ban

Other scientific names: Cephalopholis moara, Epinephelus brunneus, Epinephelus moara, Serranus moara

Similar species

Blacktip grouper
Epinephelus fasciatus
Dusky grouper
Epinephelus marginatus
Honeycomb grouper
Epinephelus merra
Catface grouper
Epinephelus andersoni
Areolate grouper
Epinephelus areolatus
Brown-spotted Rock-cod
Epinephelus bilobatus

Sources and credits

Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).

Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
29,157 open-data records from 1900 to 2024.
Species data updated November 2, 2026.

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