Epinephelus retouti Bleeker, 1868

Rajan, P. T., Mishra, S. S. & Bineesh, K. K., 2017, First records of two species of groupers, Cephalopholis nigripinnis and Epinephelus retouti (Perciformes: Epinephelidae) from India, with a note on Epinephelids from Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Records of the Zoological Survey of India 117 (3), pp. 289-294 : 290

Epinephelus retouti Bleeker, 1868

(Redtipped grouper)

1868. Epinephelus retouti Bleeker, Versl. Akad.Amsterdam , ser. 2, 2: 336. (Type locality: Reunion) .

Diagnostic Characters: D IX, 16-17; A III, 8; P 19-20; LL pored 62-74; LSS 121-140; Gill rakers 7-8 + 14-16; Pyloric caeca 39-45. Snout length 3.5 to 3.9 times in head length. Ctenoid scales on body except anterodorsally, on thorax and abdomen; numerous auxillary scales present on body; maxilla naked; caudal fin truncate to slightly rounded; pelvic fins not reaching anus. Adults dull yellowish orange to brownish red overall, usually with 5 faint dark bars on body; head mottled light red and orangish brown; lips light red; dorsal fin olivaceous to brown, the outer triangular part of each interspinous membrane deep red; remaining fins light orange red except upper caudal fin olivaceous to brown similar as the dorsal fin.

Habitat: Mainly found in depths more than 70-200 m, but the young ones can be observed in 15-40 m depth.

Distribution: Widely distributed in the tropical and subtropical Indo-Pacific region, but with scattered distribution around oceanic islands.

Remarks: E. retouti is closely related to E. fasciatus , E. rivulatus and E. irroratus in meristic, morphometric and colour pattern. In both E. fasciatus and E. rivulatus , snout length is shorter (4.0 to 5.1 in head length), while in E. irroratus , no dark bars on body and second dorsal spine elongated in adults. Among these four species, only E. fasciatus was recorded from Andamans earlier ( Day 1875), which further differs from E. retouti in having tips of the interspinous dorsal-fin membranes are black, the soft dorsal fin and upper caudal-fin rays are not darker than the rest of these fins, caudal-fin margin is convex or moderately rounded ( Heemstra and Randall, 1993). The present report forms its first record from India and Andaman Islands as well.