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Estuary Cod
Epinephelus coioides (Hamilton, 1822)
An Estuary Cod at a depth of 28m, wreck of the Yongala, off Townsville, Queensland, November 2001. View larger image.
The Estuary Cod is brown above and whitish below. It has five irregular, oblique bars on the body that bifurcate (glossary) ventrally.
There are numerous small orange-brown spots on the head, body and median fins (glossary). The spots are pupil-sized in small fish (see middle image) but become relatively smaller and more numerous as the fish ages.
This species grows to 1m in length. It eats mainly fishes and crustaceans.
Young fish are usually found in estuaries and silty areas although have also been reported from freshwaters. Adults are often found in marine offshore areas at depths around 100m.
The Estuary Cod is recorded in tropical and warm temperate marine waters of the Indo-West Pacific.
In Australia it is known from the central coast of Western Australia, around the tropical north, and south to northern New South Wales.
The Estuary Cod is sometimes called the Orange-spotted Grouper or Brown-spotted Grouper.
View a map of the collecting localities of specimens in the Australian Museum Fish Collection.
Further reading
- Kuiter, R.H. 1996. Guide to Sea Fishes of Australia. New Holland. Pp. 433.
- Heemstra, P.C. & J.E. Randall. 1993. Groupers of the World. (Family Serranidae, Subfamily Epinephelinae). An Annotated and Illustrated Catalogue of Grouper, Rockcod, Hind, Coral Grouper and Lyretail Species Known to Date. FAO Species Catalogue. Vol. 16. FAO. Rome. Pp. 382.
