View source for Nassau grouper

{{Short description|Species of fish}}
{{more citations needed|date=February 2023}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2022}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = 2017, cuba, jardines aggressor, los indios, nassau grouper maw (36883128693).jpg
| status = CR
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref =<ref name="iucn status 11 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=Sadovy, Y. |author2=Aguilar-Perera, A. |author3=Sosa-Cordero, E. |date=2018 |title=''Epinephelus striatus'' |volume=2018 |article-number=e.T7862A46909843 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T7862A46909843.en |access-date=11 November 2021}}</ref>
| taxon = Epinephelus striatus
| authority = ([[Marcus Elieser Bloch|Bloch]], 1792)
| synonyms = *''Anthias striatus'' <small>Bloch, 1792</small>
*''Serranus striatus'' <small>(Bloch, 1792)</small>
*''Anthias cherna'' <small>Bloch & [[Johann Gottlob Theaenus Schneider|Schneider]], 1801</small>
*''Sparus chrysomelanus'' <small>[[Bernard Germain de Lacépède|Lacépède]], 1802</small>
*''Serranus gymnopareius'' <small>[[Achille Valenciennes|Valenciennes]], 1828</small>
| synonyms_ref = <ref name = Fishbase>{{FishBase|Epinephelus|striatus|month=December|year=2019}}</ref>
}}

The '''Nassau grouper''' ('''''Epinephelus striatus''''') is one of the large number of [[perciform]] [[fish]]es in the family [[Serranidae]] commonly referred to as [[grouper]]s.<ref>{{Cite web|last1=Watanabe |first1=Wade|last2=Miller|first2=Gennifer|date=22 November 2019|website=CABI Compendium|title=Epinephelus striatus (nassau grouper)|url=https://www.cabidigitallibrary.org/doi/full/10.1079/cabicompendium.83953|doi=10.1079/cabicompendium.83953 |doi-access=free }}</ref>   It is the most important of the groupers for commercial fishery in the [[West Indies]], but has been [[endangered]] by [[overfishing]].

The [[International Union for Conservation of Nature]] lists the Nassau grouper as critically endangered, due to commercial and recreational fishing and reef destruction.<ref name="iucn status 11 November 2021" /> Fishing the species is prohibited in US federal waters.<ref name="iucn status 11 November 2021" /> The Nassau grouper is a US [[National Marine Fisheries Service]]-listed threatened species<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/species/nassau-grouper|title=Nassau Grouper|website=NOAA Fisheries|publisher=National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration|access-date=26 May 2023|date=15 March 2023}}</ref> by authority of the [[Endangered Species Act of 1973]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://ecos.fws.gov/ecp/species/10529|title=Nassau grouper (''Epinephelus striatus'')|website=Environmental Conservation Online System|publisher=U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service|access-date=26 May 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Federal Register|81|42268}}</ref>

==Description==
[[Image:Epinephelus striatus 2.jpg|thumb|250px|left|A Nassau grouper, ''E. striatus'', ambushed its prey on Caribbean coral reefs.]]

The Nassau grouper is a medium to large fish, growing to over {{cvt|1|m|ft|abbr=on}} in length and up to {{cvt|25|kg|lb|abbr=on}} in weight. It has a thick body and large mouth, which it uses to "inhale" prey. Its color varies depending on an individual fish's circumstances and environment. In shallow water down to {{cvt|60|ft|m|abbr=on}}, the grouper is a tawny color, but specimens living in deeper waters are pinkish or red, or sometimes orange-red in color. Superimposed on this base color are a number of lighter stripes, darker spots, bars, and patterns, including black spots below and behind the eyes, and a forked stripe on the top of the head.

==Distribution and habitat==
The Nassau grouper lives near [[reef]]s; it is one of the largest fish to be found around [[coral reef]]s. It can be found from the shoreline to depths near {{cvt|100|m|ft|disp=flip|abbr=on}}. It lives in the western [[Atlantic Ocean]] and around the [[Caribbean Sea]], from [[Bermuda]], [[Florida]], and the [[Bahamas]] in the north to the eastern coast of Venezuela, but it is only found in a few places in the [[Gulf of Mexico]], most notably along the coast of [[Belize]].<ref name="glovers">{{Cite web|author=Glover's Reef Marine Reserve|title=Northeast Point|url=http://www.gloversreef.org/northeast_point.html|publisher=Government of Belize, Fisheries Department|access-date=17 April 2011|archive-date=7 August 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110807090006/http://www.gloversreef.org/northeast_point.html}}</ref>

==Biology==
It is a solitary fish, feeding in the daytime, mainly on other fish and small crustaceans such as [[crab]]s and small lobsters. It spawns in December and January, always around the time of the full moon, and always in the same locations. By the light of the full moon, huge numbers of the grouper cluster together to mate in mass spawning.

==Conservation==

The Nassau grouper is fished both commercially and for sport; it is less shy than other groupers, and is readily approached by [[scuba diving|scuba divers]]. Its numbers have been sharply reduced by overfishing in recent years, though, and it is a slow breeder. Furthermore, its historic spawning areas are easily targeted for fishing, which tends to remove the reproductively active members of the group. The species is therefore highly vulnerable to [[overexploitation]], and is recognized as [[critically endangered]] on the [[IUCN Red List]]. The governments of the United States, the [[Cayman Islands]], and the [[Bahamas]] have banned or instituted closed fishing seasons for the Nassau grouper in recent years. In the Cayman Islands, fishing in the spawning holes of the grouper had been banned until the end of 2016. In the case of the Bahamas, the government has instituted a closed fishing season in which fishing for the Nassau grouper is banned from December to February. It is in a very high rate of decline and is at serious risk of becoming extinct.

A large spawning site for the species is located at [[Glover's Reef]], off the Belizean coast. It has been identified as one of only two viable sites remaining for the species, of nine originally known locations. In 2002, a permanent [[marine protected area]] was established on Glover's Reef, but the Nassau grouper's spawning region is not included in this marine protected area (MPA). Instead, their spawning area (located north of the MPA) is subjected to a three-month closure during winter spawning aggregations.<ref name="Chris Murray">{{cite journal|last=Shcherbina|first=Andrey|author2=Glen G. Gawarkiewicz |author3=Christopher A. Linder |author4=Simon R. Thorrold |title=Mapping bathymetric and hydrographic features of Glover's Reef, Belize, with a REMUS autonomous underwater vehicle|journal=Limnology and Oceanography|date=Sep 2008|volume=53|series=5|issue=2264–2272|page=8|url=http://www.80www.aslo.org/lo/toc/vol_53/issue_5_part_2/2264.pdf|access-date=17 April 2012|doi=10.4319/lo.2008.53.5_part_2.2264|bibcode=2008LimOc..53.2264S|doi-access=free}}</ref>

Many conservation methods have been put in place to help the grouper, including closed seasons, when fishing is not allowed. These seasons take place during the spawning season. Regulations allow only fish over {{cvt|3|lb|kg|abbr=on}} to be harvested to give the younger fish a chance to spawn.{{citation needed|date=May 2025}} Some areas are protected, and a complete ban on fishing the grouper in US waters has been instituted.{{citation needed|date=May 2025}} Also, protection of the spawning sites at all times is in effect in certain places.

==Status reviews==
The U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service recently completed a review of the status of the species for endangered species listing,<ref name=NMFS>[http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov/protected_resources/listing_petitions/documents/biological_report.pdf "Nassau Grouper, Epinephelus striatus (Bloch 1792) Biological Report"] 2014.</ref> and proposed to list the species as endangered.<ref name=NMFS2>NMFS. ''Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants: Notice of 12-Month Finding on a Petition to List the Nassau Grouper as Threatened or Endangered Under the Endangered Species Act (ESA)''.''Federal Register;; v79, (2 September 2014), 51929-51942.</ref> However, analysis of declines in both populations, as well as the size spawning aggregations has led to the species being uplisted to [[critically endangered]] by the IUCN Red List in 2018.<ref name="iucn status 11 November 2021" />
 
[[Image:Epinephelus striatus.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Nassau grouper]]
[[Image:3846 aquaimages.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Nassau grouper in Saba]]
The Nassau grouper has been depicted on postage stamps of [[Cuba]] (1965, 1975), the Bahamas (1971 five-cent), and [[Antigua and Barbuda]] (1987 40-cent).

The threats to the grouper include overfishing, fishing during the breeding period, habitat loss, pollution, invasive species, and catching undersized grouper.

The Nassau grouper was placed on the World Conservation Union's red list of threatened species in 1996, and it was determined to be endangered because its population has declined by 60% in the past 30 years. An estimated third or more of spawning aggregations have disappeared, and the grouper is considered to be commercially extinct in some areas. 
The current population is estimated to be more than 10,000 mature individuals, but is thought to be decreasing. Their suitable habitat is declining; they need quality coral reef habitats to survive. Their population outlook is not optimistic.


==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite iucn |author=Sadovy, Y. |author2=Aguilar-Perera, A. |author3=Sosa-Cordero, E. |date=2018 |title=''Epinephelus striatus'' |volume=2018 |article-number=e.T7862A46909843 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T7862A46909843.en |access-date=11 November 2021}} Database entry includes a brief justification of why this species is endangered and the criteria used
* NMFS. Species of Concern Fact Sheet [http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/species/concern/]. 2008
*Nelson M. Ehrhardt, Vallierre K.W. Deleveaux, The Bahamas' Nassau grouper (Epinephelus striatus) fishery- two assessment methods applied to a data-deficient coastal population, Fisheries Research 87 (2007) 17-27

== External links ==
*[http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/SpeciesSummary.cfm?genusname=Epinephelus&speciesname=striatus Fishbase species summary]
*[http://www.fishbase.org/Photos/ThumbnailsSummary.cfm?ID=18 Photographs from Fishbase]
*[http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2003/12/19/international1627EST0622.DTL Cayman Islands close grouper spawning areas to fishing, citing sharp decline]
*[http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/prot_res/species/fish/nassau_grouper.html US National Marine Fisheries Service species summary including conservation measures]
* {{SealifePhotos|159222}}
*http://www.oar.noaa.gov/spotlite/archive/spot_spawn.html
*http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/Gallery/Descript/NassauGrouper/NassauGrouper.html
*https://web.archive.org/web/20110103214238/http://www.reef.org/data/groupermoon.html
http://www.breef.org/Portals/0/Nassau%20Grouper%20notes.pdf

{{Grouper}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q943193}}
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[[Category:Epinephelus|Nassau grouper]]
[[Category:Fish of the Caribbean]]
[[Category:Fauna of the Bahamas]]
[[Category:Fauna of Bermuda]]
[[Category:Fish described in 1792|Nassau grouper]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Marcus Elieser Bloch]]
[[Category:ESA threatened species]]
[[Category:Critically endangered fauna of the United States]]