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Mycteroperca microlepis (Goode & Bean, 1879)

Gag
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Mycteroperca microlepis   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Mycteroperca microlepis
Picture by Cox, C.D.


United States (contiguous states) country information

Common names: Charcoal belly, Gag, Grouper
Occurrence: native
Salinity: marine
Abundance: | Ref:
Importance: commercial | Ref: Heemstra, P.C. and J.E. Randall, 1993
Aquaculture: | Ref:
Regulations: | Ref:
Uses: gamefish: yes;
Comments: Juveniles occur as far as Massachusetts. One of the most important groupers in the sport and commercial fisheries of the southwest coast. An all-tackle record of 32.11 kg for this species, caught off Destin, Florida, was published in the 1990 World Record Game Fishes. Also Ref. 2176, 26280, 89707.
National Checklist:
Country Information: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/geos/us.html
National Fisheries Authority: http://www.nmfs.gov
Occurrences: Occurrences Point map
Main Ref: Heemstra, P.C. and J.E. Randall, 1993
National Database:

Common names from other countries

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Perciformes/Serranoidei (Groupers) > Epinephelidae (Groupers)
Etymology: Mycteroperca: Greek, mykter, -eros = nose + Greek, perke = perch (Ref. 45335).
  More on authors: Goode & Bean.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; brackish; reef-associated; oceanodromous (Ref. 51243); depth range 30 - 160 m (Ref. 89707).   Subtropical; 40°N - 27°S, 98°W - 38°W (Ref. 5222)

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Western Atlantic: North Carolina, USA (with juveniles occurring as far north as Massachusetts) to the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico. Rare in Bermuda; one record in Cuba; also reported from eastern Brazil.

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm 63.1, range 51 - ? cm
Max length : 145 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 40637); common length : 50.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 3708); max. published weight: 36.5 kg (Ref. 40637); max. reported age: 31 years (Ref. 118445)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 11; Dorsal soft rays (total): 16 - 18; Anal spines: 3; Anal soft rays: 10 - 12. Distinguished by the following characteristics: adult females and juveniles are generally brownish grey with dark vermiculations; camouflage phase has 5 dark brown saddles separated by short white bars below the dorsal fin; large males sometimes display a "black-belly" and "black-back" phase; black-belly phase is mostly pale grey, with faint dark reticulations below soft dorsal fin, belly and ventral part of the body above anal fin black, as are margin of the soft dorsal fin, central rear part of caudal fin and rear margins of pectoral and pelvic fins; depth of body contained 3.0-3.5 times in SL; head length 2.5-2.7 times in SL; convex interorbital area; angle of preopercle produced into a rounded lobe bearing enlarged serrae; posterior nostrils of adults much larger than anterior ones; smooth lateral body scales, except those covering pectoral fin (Ref. 89707).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Juveniles occur in estuaries and seagrass beds; adults are usually found offshore on rocky bottom (rarely to 152 m), occasionally inshore on rocky or grassy bottom. It is the most common grouper on rocky ledges in the eastern Gulf of Mexico. Adults are either solitary or in groups of 5 to 50 individuals; feed mainly on fishes, some crabs, shrimps, and cephalopods. Juveniles (less than 20 cm) feed mainly on crustaceans that live in shallow grass beds.

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturities | Reproduction | Spawnings | Egg(s) | Fecundities | Larvae

Indeterminate, multiple spawner (Ref. 86690).

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Heemstra, P.C. and J.E. Randall, 1993. FAO Species Catalogue. Vol. 16. Groupers of the world (family Serranidae, subfamily Epinephelinae). An annotated and illustrated catalogue of the grouper, rockcod, hind, coral grouper and lyretail species known to date. Rome: FAO. FAO Fish. Synop. 125(16):382 p. (Ref. 5222)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Vulnerable (VU) (A4bd); Date assessed: 21 November 2016

CITES (Ref. 128078)

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless




Human uses

Fisheries: highly commercial; gamefish: yes
FAO(Fisheries: production; publication : search) | FishSource | Sea Around Us

More information

Trophic ecology
Food items
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Ecology
Ecology
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Egg(s)
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Genetics
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Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 115969): 18.3 - 27.1, mean 23.8 (based on 123 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5000   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00955 (0.00767 - 0.01189), b=3.04 (3.01 - 3.07), in cm Total Length, based on LWR estimates for this species (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  3.7   ±0.4 se; based on diet studies.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (K=0.12-0.16; tm=3-8; tmax=16; Fec>10,000).
Prior r = 0.51, 95% CL = 0.34 - 0.77, Based on 1 full stock assessment.
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  High vulnerability (62 of 100).
Climate Vulnerability (Ref. 125649):  High to very high vulnerability (73 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Very high.