|Scientific Name:||Cephalopholis spiloparaea|
|Species Authority:||(Valenciennes, 1828)|
Cephalopholis analis (non Valenciennes, 1828)
Cephalopholis aurantia (non Valenciennes, 1828)
Cephalopholis aurantius (non Valenciennes, 1828)
Cephalopholis spiloparae (Valenciennes, 1828)
Cephalopholis spiloparaea (Valenciennes, 1828)
Serranus spiloparaeus Valenciennes, 1828
|Taxonomic Notes:||Often misidentified as Cephalopholis aurantia (or as Cephalopholis analis, a junior synonym of Cephalopholis aurantia).|
|Red List Category & Criteria:||Least Concern ver 3.1|
|Assessor(s):||Ferreira, B.P., Gaspar, A.L.B. & Myers, R.|
|Reviewer(s):||Sadovy, Y. & Moss, K. (Grouper and Wrasse Red List Authority)|
Cephalopholis spiloparaea is probably one of the most widespread and common deepwater grouper species with no known major threats and, therefore, assessed as Least Concern.
Cephalopholis spiloparaea is a widespread Indo-Pacific species ranging from East Africa (Pinda, Mozambique: 15°S) to French Polynesia and the Pitcairn Group, north to the Ryukyu Islands (Japan), and south to Heron Island at the southern end of the Great Barrier Reef (Australia).
American Samoa, Australia (Queensland and Western Australia, including Rowley Shoals), Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Cook Islands, French Polynesia (Society Islands, Tuamotu Islands), Guam, India (Lakshadweep), Indonesia (Bali, Java, Lesser Sunda Islands, Moluccas, Papua, Sulawesi), Japan (Ogasawara-shoto, Ryukyu Islands), Kiribati, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Micronesia, Mozambique, New Caledonia, Palau, Papua New Guinea (Bismarck Archipelago, North Solomons), Philippines, Pitcairn, Réunion, Seychelles, Solomon Islands, Taiwan, Tanzania, Tonga, United States Minor Outlying Islands (Wake Island).
Native:American Samoa (American Samoa); Australia; British Indian Ocean Territory; Christmas Island; Cocos (Keeling) Islands; Comoros; Cook Islands; Fiji; French Polynesia; India; Indonesia; Japan; Kenya; Kiribati; Madagascar; Malaysia; Maldives; Marshall Islands; Mauritius; Mayotte; Micronesia, Federated States of ; Mozambique; Nauru; New Caledonia; Niue; Northern Mariana Islands; Palau; Papua New Guinea; Philippines; Pitcairn; Réunion; Samoa; Seychelles; Solomon Islands; Taiwan, Province of China; Tanzania, United Republic of; Tokelau; Tonga; Tuvalu; United States Minor Outlying Islands; Vanuatu; Wallis and Futuna
|FAO Marine Fishing Areas:||
Indian Ocean – eastern; Indian Ocean – western; Pacific – northwest; Pacific – western central
|Range Map:||Click here to open the map viewer and explore range.|
Cephalopholis spiloparaea is not commonly seen in shallow waters, but in deeper outer reef slope areas waters it is probably more common.
Only one individual, measuring 30 cm, was recorded in New Caledonia, during underwater visual census in New Caledonia, French Polynesia, Fiji and Tonga in Barrier, Fringing, Intermediate, outer-barrier-reef and Lagoon-bottom reefs. Density estimates for the species were three individuals/per sq km, with a size was between 25 and 30 cm.
It is relatively common on reefs of the southern Mariana Islands (Myers 1999, in Donaldson, 2002).
In December 1995, Machida et al. (1997) reported seven species of groupers collected at Agdao Fish Market in Davao City, including C. spiloparaea, which was the first record from Mindanao for this species.
Fishery statistics from The Sea Around Us From 1985 to 2002, C. spiloparaea represented 0.25% (304 kg) of total offshore catch of Serranidae (118,579 kg) in Guam.
|Habitat and Ecology:||
Cephalopholis spiloparaea is a reef-associated species found at depths from 16 to 108 m. It is perhaps the most common grouper on Indo-Pacific coral reefs found below 40 m. The species is known primarily from insular localities except those collected from Pinda, Mozambique. Little is known of the biology of this species other than spawning, courtship and feeding.
Donaldson (1995a) described courtship and spawning behaviour of Cephalopholis spiloparaea from Rota, Mariana Islands. This species has male-dominated haremic groups. Daily courtship behaviour began late in the afternoon and proceeded until after sunset. Males repeatedly visited females in single-male, multiple-female mating groups during each period and engaged in courtship bouts. Males were predicted to devote more effort toward intra-and interspecific interactions compared to females and to maximize reproductive success. Females were predicted to devote more effort towards foraging, compared to males. This behaviour maximizes reproductive effort. Foraging behaviour by both sexes was virtually absent during daylight and pre-courtship periods. Fish sought shelter and were not incidentally observed foraging after dusk, suggesting that this species actively forages later at night or during early morning hours, just prior to and during sunrise.
|Major Threat(s):||There are no known major threats to Cephalopholis spiloparaea.|
|Conservation Actions:||Cephalopholis spiloparaea occurs in marine protected areas throughout parts of its range.|
Donaldson T.J. 1995a. Courtship and spawning behavior of the pygmy grouper, Cephalopholis spiloparaea (Serranidae: Epinephelinae), with notes on C. argus andC. urodeta. Environmental Biology of Fishes 43: 363-370.
Donaldson, T.J. 1995b. Partitioning behaviour and intra- and interspecific interactions: a comparison between male and female groupers, Cephalopholis spiloparaea (Pisces: Serranidae: Epinephelinae). Marine Biology 121((4)): 581-584.
Heemstra, P.C. and Randall, J.E. 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.
IUCN. 2008. 2008 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Available at: http://www.iucnredlist.org. (Accessed: 5 October 2008).
Machida, Y., Sato, T. and Dasilao, J.C. Jr. 1997. A small collection of groupers from Agdao Fish Market in Davao City, Mindanao, the Philippines (Serranidae, Epinephelinae). Memoirs of the Faculty of Science Kochi University Series D Biology 18: 47-55.
Myers, R.F. 1999. Micronesian reef fishes: a comprehensive guide to the coral reef fishes of Micronesia. Coral Graphics, Barrigada, Guam.
|Citation:||Ferreira, B.P., Gaspar, A.L.B. & Myers, R. 2008. Cephalopholis spiloparaea. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2014.3. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 01 February 2015.|
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