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HUWAT KSAFISH Fishes of Saudi Arabia Red Sea and Arabian Gulf An initiative of the HUWAT ecosystem
Family: SERRANIDAE Species index Families Compare with another species

HWT-FISH-0363

Areolate grouper

Epinephelus areolatus

(Forsskål, 1775)

Epinephelus areolatus
© أسماك من المياه الإقليمية للمملكة في البحر الأحمر — مركز أبحاث الثروة السمكية، جـدة

Species SERRANIDAE Fish Name used in this encyclopedia

Quick facts

Saudi context in this record

Naming evidence

Local names recorded for their geographic scope: evidence that the name is used there, not a published record of biological occurrence.

Saudi territorial waters, Arabian Gulf لدن · قطوه
Saudi territorial waters, Red Sea قماته

Occurrence records

The encyclopedia holds no published occurrence record for this taxon in Saudi waters yet.

Measurements and characters

Specimen total length total length (TL)

8.9 cm

Length of a measured specimen, not the maximum length of the species.

أسماك من المياه الإقليمية للمملكة في البحر الأحمر — مركز أبحاث الثروة السمكية، جـدة لوحات الحصر المصوّرة confidence: officially documented verification: verified

Fishes from Territorial Saudi Red Sea Waters الصفحة المطبوعة 228 confidence: officially documented verification: unverified the evidence is a rendering of what the locator holds, not a verbatim quotation

Documentation status

documented from a photographed and measured specimen

No source is linked to this value.

Names

English common names

Areolate grouper

Local names — Saudi territorial waters, Arabian Gulf

  • لدن Local name Local name, verified — not nationally approved
  • قطوه Local name Local name, verified — not nationally approved

Local names — Saudi territorial waters, Red Sea

  • قماته Local name Local name, verified — not nationally approved

Local names with no recorded scope

  • كشر أبو عدس Local name draft
  • غباري Local name draft
  • كشر طينيه Local name draft

Classification

EpinephelusGenus SERRANIDAEFamily PerciformesOrder ActinopterygiiClass ChordataPhylum AnimaliaKingdom

External identifiers
  • National species code: 1505 — Marine Research Centre, Jeddah

The national collection-form code is not a unique identifier; more than one taxon may carry the same value. The only stable identifier here is the HUWAT code.

Conservation

No governed conservation assessment is published for this taxon. The absence of a published assessment is not an assessment of low concern.

Distribution

The encyclopedia holds no published scientific distribution records for this taxon.

This section shows source-backed scientific distribution only. Community observations are not listed here and no scientific distribution is inferred from them.

Fishing and seasons

Abundance season, spawning season and legal closure are three separate things. Each line carries its kind of evidence, its region and its source; what is not documented is said to be undocumented.

Habitat and diet

  • Feeds on fishes and benthic invertebrates, mainly prawns and crabs. A general description of the species, not a Saudi diet study; a natural diet does not prove a best bait. Biological reference Global
    Source

    Epinephelus areolatus — Yellowspotted Rockcod — Feeding section · Scientifically documented
    Feed on fishes and benthic invertebrates, mainly prawns and crabs. (our rendering of what the locator holds, not a quotation)

  • A reef-associated fish, 6–200 m; its type locality is Jeddah, Red Sea. Biological reference Global
    Source

    Epinephelus areolatus — Yellowspotted Rockcod — Quick Facts; Species Citation · Scientifically documented
    Reef associated; depth 6-200 m; type locality Jeddah, Red Sea. (our rendering of what the locator holds, not a quotation)

Time of day

  • General handlining guidance from an FAO manual: the best times are usually early morning and late evening. It is general advice, not specific to this species and not backed by a Saudi study; the same manual advises also watching the current, the bottom and the presence of bait fish when choosing where to fish. General guidance — not species-specific Global
    Source

    Handlining and squid jigging (FAO Training Series No. 23) — Part I, section 8 "Deciding where and when to fish" (Moon and sun) · Scientifically documented
    States that, as a general rule, the best times for handlining are early in the morning and late in the evening; the right time also depends on the species and place. (our rendering of what the locator holds, not a quotation)

Bait

  • The natural diet is given in the diet note on this page. A practical suggestion to test, not a bait shown to be best: shrimp, crab meat or a fish bait near the bottom. A natural diet does not by itself prove the best bait, and no Saudi comparative bait trial was found. Practical suggestion to test — not shown to be best Global
    Source

    Epinephelus areolatus — Yellowspotted Rockcod — Feeding section · Scientifically documented
    Feed on fishes and benthic invertebrates, mainly prawns and crabs. (our rendering of what the locator holds, not a quotation)

  • No published seasonal description specific to this species was found in the sources checked.
  • Spawning months for this species: not documented in the sources checked.
  • Best month for line fishing: no Saudi source checked ranks the months. Abundance season, spawning season and legal closure are three separate things.
  • Bait ranking: no Saudi comparative trial was found in the sources checked.

Others in this family

Taxa of the same family. That is a taxonomic relationship, not a statement of resemblance; the encyclopedia holds no diagnostic characters or lookalike relations yet.

Information not yet documented in this record

These fields are not yet documented for this taxon in the encyclopedia. Their absence describes the record, not the animal.

Some of these fields do carry an unapproved draft value, shown with its source under “Information on this species” below. Their absence here means not approved, not absent.

Scientific sources

أسماك من المياه الإقليمية للمملكة في البحر الأحمر — مركز أبحاث الثروة السمكية، جـدة (2011). ط١ ١٤٣٢هـ/٢٠١١م.
استمارة التجميع المرمزة للأسماء المحلية — مركز أبحاث الثروة السمكية.
Fishes from Territorial Saudi Red Sea Waters (2017). الطبعة الثانية 1438 H - 2017.
Handlining and squid jigging (FAO Training Series No. 23) (1992). ISBN 92-5-103100-2
Epinephelus areolatus — Yellowspotted Rockcod.
The scientific sources above are the ones cited for the facts, names and identifiers on this page. The platform and founder attribution in the footer is not a scientific source. Community contributions appear with their names and review status. The verification shown beside a value means the register checked the value against its cited source; it is not a scientific approval and not an independent peer review.

Record last modified: 2026-09-12