blue Maori

Epinephelus cyanopodus

Fish
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth7–52 m
Water temperature20–30 °C
Best monthsMarch, April, and August
How commonRare

Photo credit: (c) Roger Rittmaster, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

About this species

Epinephelus cyanopodus, the speckled blue grouper, also known as the blue maori, purple rock cod, speckled grouper or yellowfin grouper, 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 the Western Pacific Ocean where it occurs in corals.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Epinephelus cyanopodus”, 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: 24 records
February: 23 records
March: 31 records
April: 28 records
May: 11 records
June: 24 records
July: 17 records
August: 27 records
September: 18 records
October: 21 records
November: 23 records
December: 21 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 7–52 m · Deepest record: 100.5 m

0–10 m: 11 records
10–20 m: 13 records
20–30 m: 3 records
30–40 m: 2 records
40–50 m: 2 records
50–60 m: 2 records
60–70 m: 0 records
70–80 m: 2 records
80–90 m: 0 records
90–100 m: 0 records
100–110 m: 1 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 20–30 °C

20–22 °C: 6 records
22–24 °C: 9 records
24–26 °C: 14 records
26–28 °C: 24 records
28–30 °C: 39 records

Photos

Names and classification

English: blue Maori, Blue Maori Cod, Blue Mori Cod, purple rockcod, Purple Rock-cod, Purple Rock Cod, Speckled blue grouper, Speckled Grouper, Yellowfin Grouper

Names in 5 more languages

Spanish: Mero Azul, Mero Morado
Filipino: Lapu-lapu
French: Loche Bleue, Loche bleue, Loche morue, Loche Morue, Merou Bleu, Mérou bleu
Japanese: Tsuchihozeri, ツチホゼリ
Simplified Chinese: Naam-dim-paan, 手皮鱠, 石斑, 細點石斑魚, 藍鰭石斑魚, 錢鰻鰻, 高體石斑魚

Other scientific names: Epinephalus kohleri, Epinephelus hoedti, Epinephelus hoedtii, Epinephelus kohleri, Epinephelus suitonis, Homalogrystes luctuosus, Serranus cyanopodus, Serranus hoedtii, Serranus punctatissimus

Similar species

Blacktip grouper
Epinephelus fasciatus
Honeycomb grouper
Epinephelus merra
Areolate grouper
Epinephelus areolatus
Garrupa
Epinephelus coeruleopunctatus
Orange-spotted grouper
Epinephelus coioides
Brown-marbled grouper
Epinephelus fuscoguttatus

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).
202 open-data records from 1846 to 2023.
Species data updated October 26, 2026.

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