Epinephelidae

Leopard coral grouper

Plectropomus leopardus

New moons gather blue spotted red bodies to spawn

• Blue
• Orange
• Red
• White
• Tropical
• Globally widespread
• Marine fish
• Other
• Large
• Tropical fish

Gleaming in a resplendent crimson livery sprinkled with iridescent blue jewels, the leopard coral grouper (or common coral trout) is an iconic, highly agile predator commanding shallow coral gardens across the western Pacific Ocean. Its streamlined, oblong body displays vivid base colorations ranging from fiery reddish-orange, pink, and scarlet to rich olive-brown, completely smothered in hundreds of minute, dark-rimmed, radiant turquoise-blue dots that extend onto the head and fins. The caudal fin is emarginate with a delicate white trailing edge, while the large jaws are studded with sharp, backward-pointing canine teeth. Native to clear reef complexes from southern Japan and the South China Sea through the Great Barrier Reef to Fiji, it patrols reef crests, bommies, and outer slopes between three and one hundred meters depth. A dominant diurnal hunter, it ambushes damselfishes and wrasses, frequently employing referential head-shaking signals to coordinate joint hunts with giant morays. Protogynous hermaphrodites, maximum recorded total length reaches one hundred and twenty centimetres.

Sources: Australian Museum — Leopard Coral Grouper, Plectropomus leopardus