Species Epinephelus morrhua (Valenciennes, 1833)
Comet Grouper, Comet Cod, Comet Groper
- Serranus morrhua Valenciennes, A. in Cuvier, G.L. & Valenciennes, A. 1833. Histoire Naturelle des Poissons. Paris : Levrault Vol. 9 512 pp. pls 246-279. [434].
Type data:
Holotype MNHP 7431, Île de France (= Mauritius).
Generic Combinations
- Epinephelus morrhua (Valenciennes, 1833). —
Bleeker, P. 1875. Poissons de Madagascar et de l'Île la Réunion des collections de MM. Pollen et van Dam. In, Recherches sur la fauna de Madagascar et de ses d'après les découvertes de François P.L. Pollen et D.C. van Dam. Leide. Poiss. Madagascar Part 4. 1-104 pp. [89]
Boulenger, G.A. 1895. Catalogue of the Fishes in the British Museum. Catalogue of the perciform fishes. London : British Museum Vol. 1 394 pp. 15 pls. [208] - Mycteroperca morrhua (Valenciennes, 1833). —
Ma, K.Y. & Craig, M.T. 2018. An inconvenient monophyly: an update on the taxonomy of the groupers (Epinephelidae). Copeia 2018(3): 443–456 [451] (changed combination)
Introduction
Ma & Craig (2018) placed this species in the genus Mycteroperca based on genetic studies. However, no distinct morphological characters uniquely separate the two genera as recognised by that study. That separation makes identification to genus difficult. Tentatively we retain the species in Epinephelus.
Distribution
States
New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, Western Australia
Extra Distribution Information
North West Shelf, WA, Christmas and Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Indian Ocean, and near Darwin, NT (130º05'E) to off Newcastle, NSW (32º53´S); tropical, Indo-west-central Pacific; most records of this species apply to Epinephelus radiatus (Day, 1868).
IMCRA
Timor Transition (1), Cocos (Keeling) Island Province (22), Christmas Island Province (23), Northern Shelf Province (25), Northwest Shelf Transition (26), Northwest Shelf Province (27), Central Eastern Shelf Province (38), Central Eastern Shelf Transition (39), Northeast Shelf Province (40), Northeast Shelf Transition (41)
Distribution References
- Allen, G.R., Steene, R.C. & Orchard, M. 2007. Fishes of Christmas Island. Christmas Island : Christmas Island Natural History Association 2 edn, 284 pp. [275]
- Hobbs, J-P.A., Newman, S.J., Mitsopoulos, G.E.A., Travers, M.J., Skepper, C.L., Gilligan, J.J., Allen, G.R., Choat, H.J. & Ayling, A.M. 2014. Checklist and new records of Christmas Island fishes: the influence of isolation, biogeography and habitat availability on species abundance and community composition. Raffles Bulletin of Zoology Supplement 30: 184–202 [194]
- Hobbs, J-P.A., Newman, S .J., Mitsopoulos, G.E.A., Travers, M.J., Skepper, C.L., Gilligan, J.J., Allen, G.R., Choat, H.J. & Ayling, A.M. 2014. Fishes of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands: new records, community composition and biogeographic significance. Raffles Bulletin of Zoology Supplement 30: 203–219 [210]
- Johnson, J.W. 2010. Fishes of the Moreton Bay Marine Park and adjacent continental shelf waters, Queensland, Australia. pp. 299-353 in Davie, P.J.F. & Phillips, J.A. Proceedings of the Thirteenth International Marine Biological Workshop, The Marine Fauna and Flora of Moreton Bay. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 54(3) [316]
- Kramer, S., Kramer, S. & Newman, S. 1993. Potential deep reef slope fishery resource of the Great Barrier Reef. Australian Fisheries 52(1): 18-21 [20]
- Larson, H.K., Williams, R.S. & Hammer, M.P. 2013. An annotated checklist of the fishes of the Northern Territory, Australia. Zootaxa 3696(1): 1-293 [101]
Ecological Descriptors
Benthic, continental shelf, continental slope, marine, soft bottom.
Extra Ecological Information
70–370 m.
General References
Heemstra, P.C. & Randall, J.E. 1999. Family Serranidae. pp. 2442-2548 in Carpenter, K.E. & Niem, T.H. (eds). The Living Marine Resources of the Western Central Pacific. FAO Species Identification Guide for Fisheries Purposes. Rome : FAO Vol. 4 pp. 2069-2790. [2513]
Hutchins, J.B. 2001. Checklist of the fishes of Western Australia. Records of the Western Australian Museum, Supplement 63: 9-50 [30]
Kramer, S.H., Kramer, S.M. & Newman, S.J. 1994. New deep-water fish records from the Great Barrier Reef, Australia. Pacific Science 48(1): 70-79 [71]
Randall, J.E. & Heemstra, P.C. 1991. Revision of Indo-Pacific groupers (Perciformes: Serranidae: Epinephelinae), with descriptions of five new species. Indo-Pacific Fishes 20: 1-332 [211]
Common Name References
Allen, G.R. 1997. Marine Fishes of Tropical Australia and South-east Asia. Perth : Western Australian Museum 292 pp. 106 pls. [88] (Comet Groper)
FAO-FIES 2017. Aquatic Sciences and Fisheries Information System (ASFIS) species list. http://www.fao.org/fishery/collection/asfis/en (Comet Grouper)
Grant, E.M. 2002. Guide to Fishes. Redcliffe : EM Grant Pty Ltd 880 pp. [243] (Comet Cod)
Seafood Services Australia 2008. Australian Fish Names Standard. http://www.fishnames.com.au/. (Comet Grouper)
Yearsley, G.K., Last, P.R. & Hoese, D.F. 2006. Standard names of Australian fishes. CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research Paper 9: 1-64 [38] (Comet Grouper)
History of changes
| Published | As part of group | Action Date | Action Type | Compiler(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 03-Mar-2022 | SERRANIDAE | 23-Aug-2021 | MODIFIED | Dr Doug Hoese (AM) Dr Matthew Lockett (ABRS) |
| 30-Sep-2019 | SERRANIDAE | 05-Sep-2019 | MODIFIED | Dr Doug Hoese Dr Matthew Lockett |
| 03-Dec-2012 | 03-Dec-2012 | MODIFIED | ||
| 30-Mar-2010 | MODIFIED |