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Fish4Life provides everything you need to enjoy seafood responsibly. Explore information and practical tips for safe and sustainable seafood consumption, and help protect marine life by reporting undersized or illegally traded seafood.

White grouper
Epinephelus aeneus
Σφυρίδα

Sustainability Status

Stocks are decreasing

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Help us protect our seas by reporting illegal or undersized fish that you see in markets, restaurants or fishing boats
Fishstocks – Declining due to overexploitation
Think before you eat – This species faces increasing pressures and should only be consumed responsibly

Legal

Minimum Size

45 cm

Prohibited Consumption Period

–

Sustainable

Minimum Size

55 cm

Avoid Consumption Period

June – August

Advice for Consumption

Think before consuming this species.

Greek legislation sets an unsustainably small legal minimum size and no closed season, leaving juvenile and spawning fish completely unprotected.

Choose sustainable seafood!

Archipelagos Tips

Select larger-sized fish and check that it has no spearfishing marks.

This species is widely supplied to the market illegally through spearfishing, as spearfishing is permitted only for personal use and fish caught in this way cannot be sold commercially.
When purchasing or ordering this species, ask to see the whole fish and check for signs of spearfishing, such as entry marks on the body or the top of the head.

Common names

FR

Mérou blanc

it

Cernia bianca

es

Cherna de ley

tr

Beyaz lahos

pt

Garoupa-legítima

nl

Witte zaagbaars

de

Weißer Zackenbarsch

toxicity

This species is safe to consume.

iucn info

Near threatened (NT)

Description

The head is about one-third of the fish’s total length. It is angularly shaped with several large spines. The upper jaw extends almost as far back as the rear edge of the eye. The tail fin is rounded, and the body is covered with rough, comb-like scales. Some individuals may also have faint vertical bands across the body.

It looks like Epinephelus marginatus (Dusky grouper) also found in the Mediterranean and eastern Atlantic, it shares a similar body shape and habitat with the White grouper.

Did you know?

Female white groupers become males when they reach 10‑13 years of age!

Ecological Aspects

Diet

Voracious predator.
Hyperbenthivorous, piscivorous.
The diet is composed of both small animals living just above the seabed and fish.

habitat

Adults are found on rocky or mud-sand bottoms, juveniles can be seen in coastal lagoons and estuaries.

Max size & depth range

Max length: 120 cm
Max weight: 25 kg
Depth range: 20-200 m

breeding & Growth

It is a protogynous hermaphrodite.
Most females change sex at about 9 kg, but smaller males (3-5 kg) are occasionally found.
Growth rate: Slow (k = 0.17yr⁻¹).

Longevity & presence

Lifespan: 15-20 years
Max reported age: 22 years
Distribution: along the west coast of Africa to southern Angola, including the southern Mediterranean. First record from Corsica, France in 2012.

appearance changes

Undergoes significant appearance changes related to its growth, sex reversal, and environmental adaptation, transforming from a spotted juvenile into a distinctively marked, larger adult.

Reproductive Cycle

It is a broadcast spawner.
Depending on the female’s size, she can release roughly 789k to over 12.5 million eggs per season. They typically reproduce once a year during a sustained summer spawning season.
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Good choice – Consumption of this species is currently considered sustainable

Illegal species – Fishing, selling and consumption of this species is illegal

Fishstocks – Declining due to overexploitation

Think before you eat – This species faces increasing pressures and should only be consumed responsibly

Bad choice – Consumption of this species is unsustainable

Health concerns –
Can accumulate dangerously high levels of toxic substances harmful to health

Alien / Invasive – This species is not from this region and can have a negative impact on the ecosystem and threaten local biodiversity, so it is sustainable to eat

Aquafarms – You will commonly find this species coming from aquafarms