Masked grouper

Gracila albomarginata

Fish
IUCN: Not evaluated

Usual depth12–25 m
Water temperature15–30 °C
Best monthsFebruary, March, and June
How commonOccasional

About this species

The masked grouper, also known as the thinspine grouper, rededged cod, red-edged grouper, slenderspine grouper, thinspine rockcod, white-margined grouper, white-square cod or white-square 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. It is the only species in the genus Gracila.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Masked grouper”, 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: 241 records
February: 407 records
March: 430 records
April: 397 records
May: 347 records
June: 398 records
July: 268 records
August: 173 records
September: 129 records
October: 108 records
November: 155 records
December: 172 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 12–25 m · Deepest record: 393 m

0–10 m: 41 records
10–20 m: 559 records
20–30 m: 509 records
30–40 m: 17 records
40–50 m: 1 records
50–60 m: 0 records
60–70 m: 2 records
70–80 m: 0 records
80–90 m: 0 records
90–100 m: 0 records
100–110 m: 0 records
110+ m: 1 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 15–30 °C

14–16 °C: 1 records
16–18 °C: 0 records
18–20 °C: 0 records
20–22 °C: 0 records
22–24 °C: 549 records
24–26 °C: 20 records
26–28 °C: 80 records
28–30 °C: 252 records

Names and classification

English: Masked grouper, Chestnut Grouper, Masked grouper, Red-edged grouper, masked grouper, thinspine grouper, white-edged grouper, white-margined grouper

Names in 2 more languages

French: Loche à bords blancs, Mérou bord rouge, Mérou bord rouge, Vieille, Mérou châtaigne
Japanese: Tatesujihata, タテスジハタ

Other scientific names: Aethaloperca albomarginata, Cephalopholis albomarginatus, Epinephelus albomarginatus, Gracila albomarginatus, Gracilia albomarginata

Similar species

Peacock grouper
Cephalopholis argus
Coral grouper
Cephalopholis miniata
Darkfin hind
Cephalopholis urodeta
Blacktip grouper
Epinephelus fasciatus
Honeycomb grouper
Epinephelus merra
Blacksaddled coralgrouper
Plectropomus laevis

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).
3,292 open-data records from 1908 to 2023.

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