Camouflage grouper

Epinephelus polyphekadion

Fish
IUCN: Vulnerable

Usual depth3–25 m
Water temperature22–30 °C
Best monthsMarch, April, and May
How commonOccasional

Photo credit: (c) 陳德範（Chen, De-Fan）, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

About this species

The camouflage grouper, also known as the blue-tailed cod, camouflage rockcod, small-toothed rockcod, smooth flowery rock-cod, snout-spot grouper or snout-spot 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 where it is associated with reefs. There is actually a French documentary called Le Mystère Mérou about the spawning and behavior of these fish shot in the Atol of Fakarava in French Polynesia.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Camouflage grouper”, 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: 58 records
February: 55 records
March: 110 records
April: 154 records
May: 111 records
June: 98 records
July: 92 records
August: 95 records
September: 78 records
October: 90 records
November: 84 records
December: 78 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 3–25 m · Deepest record: 315 m

0–10 m: 243 records
10–20 m: 142 records
20–30 m: 87 records
30–40 m: 5 records
40–50 m: 9 records
50–60 m: 1 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 22–30 °C

20–22 °C: 1 records
22–24 °C: 3 records
24–26 °C: 15 records
26–28 °C: 228 records
28–30 °C: 192 records

Photos

Names and classification

English: Camouflage grouper, Blue-tailed Cod, Camouflage Cod, camouflage grouper, Camouflage Rockcod, comouflage grouper, Flowery Grouper, Marbled Grouper, Marbled Grouper, Camouflage grouper, Small-toothed Cod, small toothed rockcod, Small-toothed Rockcod, smalltooth grouper, Smooth Flowery Rock-cod, Snout-spot Grouper, Snout-spot Rock-cod, Snout-spots Grouper

Names in 7 more languages

German: Getarnter Zackenbarsch, Marmor-Zackenbarsch
Spanish: Mero Disfrazado, Mero Marmoleado Enano
Filipino: Alatan, Kaltang, Kulapo, Lapu-lapung lupot, Lubo, Sigapo
French: Loche crasseuse, Loche marbrée, Mérou camouflage
Japanese: Madarahata, マダラハタ
Thai: ปลากะรังลายพราง
Simplified Chinese: 清水石斑魚, 石斑, 罔仔, 過魚

Other scientific names: Epinephelus dispar, Epinephelus goldmani, Epinephelus microdon, Epinephelus polyhekadion, Epinephelus polyphekaidon, Serranus goldmanni, Serranus microdon, Serranus polyphekadion

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).
899 open-data records from 1849 to 2023.
Species data updated October 26, 2026.

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