Epinephelus

Epinephelus is a genus of marine, ray-finned fish, groupers from the subfamily Epinephelinae, part of the family Serranidae, which also includes the anthias and sea basses. They are predatory fish, largely associated with reefs, and are found in tropical and subtropical seas throughout the world. They are important target species for fisheries.

Epinephelus

Bernard DUPONT from FRANCE · CC BY-SA 2.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Sits inside
SerranidaePBDB
Diet
carnivorePBDB, for Perciformes
Life habit
nektonicPBDB, for Perciformes
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Perciformes

Time the record covers

At least 41 million years on record.

The record covers at least 41.03 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 56 Mya to 0 Mya.

Paleocene — about 0 of 20 occurrencesEocene — about 3 of 20 occurrencesEoceneOligocene — about 1 of 20 occurrencesOligoceneMiocene — about 12 of 20 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 1 of 20 occurrencesPleistocene — about 0 of 20 occurrences57–55 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences55–53 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences53–51 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences51–50 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences50–48 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences48–46 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences46–44 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences44–42 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences42–40 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences40–38 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences38–36 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences36–34 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences34–32 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences32–30 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences30–29 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences29–27 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences27–25 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences25–23 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences23–21 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences21–19 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences19–17 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences17–15 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences15–13 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences13–11 Mya — about 1 occurrence11–9.5 Mya — about 2 occurrences9.5–7.6 Mya — about 2 occurrences7.6–5.7 Mya — about 6 occurrences5.7–3.8 Mya — about 2 occurrences3.8–1.9 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences1.9–0 Mya — about 3 occurrences41.03 Mya11.7 ka57 Mya0 Mya

20 occurrences of Epinephelus on record, most of them in the Miocene. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

20 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

9 formations

Raz-el-Ain — 35.71°N, 0.64°WUrumaco — 11.08°N, 69.66°WUrumaco — 11.25°N, 70.27°WElmore — 50.80°N, 1.21°WYorktown — 35.36°N, 76.82°WStudienka — 48.20°N, 17.98°EMonterey — 33.56°N, 117.71°WCalcaire Grossier — 49.31°N, 2.25°EBoom Clay — 51.19°N, 4.32°EPietra Leccese — 40.33°N, 18.19°E

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Epinephelus has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 8 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Epinephelus and its relatives

Miocene

Where Epinephelus and its relatives were recorded in the Miocene.

Found in the same rock

1,085 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 18 sites for Epinephelus, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

18 references

Each of the 20 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 6 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content3

Picture of Epinephelus

Credit
Bernard DUPONT from FRANCE
Licence
CC BY-SA 2.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

CT scan

Licence
not stated by the source
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record
Specimen
Epinephelus nigritus · TxVP:M:16049

3D model

Source
Sketchfab
Licence
CC0 Public Domain
Commercial use
the licence allows it

Smithsonian Open Access was not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itSerranidae through timeFormations of the MioceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Bloch 1793