Epinephelus costae (Steindachner, 1878)

González-Lorenzo, J. Gustavo, González-Jiménez, José F. & González, José A., 2021, Review of the family Serranidae (Perciformes) from the Canary Islands (eastern-central Atlantic), with the first records of Serranus hepatus and Epinephelus aeneus, Cybium 45 (2), pp. 141-154 : 146-147

Epinephelus costae (Steindachner, 1878)

– Goldblotch grouper

Serranus acutirostris : Valenciennes, 1843: 11 (text), Atl. Pl. III, fig. 1 (GC); Steindachner, 1865: 399 (T); Vinciguerra, 1890: 470 (GC), 1893: 304 (GC).

Epinephelus alexandrinus : Steindachner, 1898: 789 (C); Dooley et al., 1985: 16 (T); Brito, 1991: 103, 111 (GR, T).

Epinephelus ruber : Cadenat 1935: 393-395 (C).

Epinephelus costae : Franquet and Brito, 1995: 66 (C); Brito et al., 2002: 216, 232 (C); Craig et al., 2011: 120 (C); Triay-Portella et al., 2015: 164 (GC); Báez et al., 2019: suppl. tab. (C); Freitas et al., 2019: suppl. tab. S3 (C).

An eastern Atlantic warm-temperate species distributed along the Mediterranean Sea, and on the eastern Atlantic coasts from off Portugal and Morocco ( Collignon, 1973 – rare) to central Angola, including the Canary and Cabo Verde Islands ( Craig et al., 2011; Heemstra and Anderson, 2016; Freitas et al., 2019; Froese and Pauly, 2020). Recently recorded from its northernmost (42°15.007’N) range expansion, i.e. Galician waters ( Bañón et al., 2018).

Sightings. – A juvenile was observed and photographed by P. Pascual ( IEO) in 1995 off Punta del Vidrio , southern Tenerife , 28°04’N 16°30’W, at 8 m depth. Another juvenile was photographed by R. Martel (an experienced scuba diver) in 1997 off La Caleta , north-eastern El Hierro , 27°47’N 17°53’W, at 10 m depth. Another juvenile was observed by the first author in 1999 off Punta Teno , north-western Tenerife, 28°11’N 16°55’W, at 12 m depth. According to recent communications by spear fishermen in the area, a permanent aggregation of E. costae individuals, constituted of both juvenile and adult fish up to 94 cm TL (8 kg), appears to be well established since 2012 on the south-western coast of Fuerteventura , between Punta Pesebre and Punta Jandía, and spilling over to Cofete on the windward coast, at 20-40 m depth. This Canarian population has been regularly exploited, year-by-year, by recreational fishing ( Fig. 5 ) and, to a lesser extent, with sporadic captures by artisanal fisheries. Posteriorly , the third author identified five specimens from the professional fishing in the north-eastern coast of Gran Canaria , and one more caught in the archipelago in a fish market on Lanzarote in November of 2019. In addition, an adult (85 cm TL, 6 kg) was spearfished in January of 2019 off Alojera , north-western La Gomera, 28°09’N 17°20’W, at 31 m depth ( Fig. 6 ). At last, in November of 2019, a juvenile appeared in an awarded photograph at the ‘ Open Fotosub El Hierro’ competition, at La Restinga, southern El Hierro – the westernmost island in the Canary archipelago.

Records of this species in the Canaries by Brito (1991) were based on juveniles (five single findings in total) caught off Lanzarote and Tenerife at 8-20 m depth. Reported maximum size: to 94 cm TL (about 8 kg). Spanish vernacular names: abadejo; mero liso.

Figures

Figure 5. – Epinephelus costae from Fuerteventura, Canary Islands (Credits: R. García, 2019).

Figure 6. – Epinephelus costae from La Gomera, Canary Islands (Credits: J. Carballo, 2019).