White-streaked grouper

Epinephelus ongus

Fish
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth1–20 m
Water temperature21–30 °C
Best monthsApril, September, and November
How commonOccasional

Photo credit: (c) Dan Schofield, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Dan Schofield · CC BY · iNaturalist

About this species

Epinephelus ongus, the white-streaked grouper, specklefin grouper, lace-finned rock-cod, specklefin rockcod, wavy-lined rock-cod, white-speckled grouper or white-spotted rock-cod, 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 has a wide Indo-Pacific distribution and it is found in brackish waters as well as marine reefs.

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

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

Loading the map

Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 51 records
February: 38 records
March: 65 records
April: 72 records
May: 70 records
June: 43 records
July: 52 records
August: 40 records
September: 82 records
October: 58 records
November: 80 records
December: 41 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 1–20 m · Deepest record: 312 m

0–10 m: 72 records
10–20 m: 14 records
20–30 m: 4 records
30–40 m: 4 records
40–50 m: 0 records
50–60 m: 0 records
60–70 m: 0 records
70–80 m: 0 records
80–90 m: 0 records
90–100 m: 0 records
100–110 m: 0 records
110+ m: 2 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 21–30 °C

20–22 °C: 1 records
22–24 °C: 0 records
24–26 °C: 39 records
26–28 °C: 77 records
28–30 °C: 107 records

Photos

no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
(c) portioid, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) portioid, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Debra Baker, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Debra Baker, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Dan Schofield, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) PampaSorro, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: White-streaked grouper, Lace-finned Rock-cod, Speckled-finned Rock-cod, Speckled-fin Rockcod, Specklefin Grouper, Speckle-finned Cod, specklefin rockcod, Wavy-lined Grouper, Wavy-lined Rock-cod, White-speckled Grouper, White-speckled Rock Cod, White-spotted Rock-cod, White-streaked Groper, white-streaked grouper, Whitestreaked Grouper, White-streaked Rockcod

Names in 6 more languages

Spanish: Mero Nubifero
Filipino: Alatan, Kaltang, Kulapo, Lapu Lapu, Lapu-lapung lupot, Lubo, Sigapo
French: Loche à flocons, Loche A Taches Claires, Loche à taches claires, Merou A Flocons, Mérou à flocons
Japanese: Namihata, ナミハタ
Thai: ปลากะรังเสือ
Simplified Chinese: 石斑, 紋波石斑魚, 過魚

Other scientific names: Epinephelus slacksmithi, Holocentrus ongus, Serranus bataviensis, Serranus dichropterus, Serranus reticulatus, Serranus tumilabris, Serranus tumilabrus, Serranus tumilebris

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).
545 open-data records from 1790 to 2023.
Species data updated October 26, 2026.

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