Also known as:
Gold-spotted estuary cod
Gold-spotted rock cod
Brown-spotted grouper
Brown-spotted rock cod
Estuary rock cod
Greasy grouper
Orange-spotted grouper
Common Group Name:
Cods and groupers
Family Name:
Serranidae
Genus Name:
Epinephelus
Species Name:
Epinephelus coioides
Dispatch Method:
Beware of the sharp gill covers and dorsal spines of estuary cod when handling them. Estuary cod and other rock cods have similar brain locations and all can be very tolerant of air exposure. To maximise their eating qualities they should be killed humanely by iki jime, or a firm knock to the head before placing them in an ice slurry after bleeding.
Fish Description:
- Estuary Cod are brown above and whitish below with irregular, oblique bars on the body. They have numerous small orange-brown spots on the head, body and fins.
- This species is a protogynous hermaphrodite which matures first as a female at 2-3 years old (30-35 cm long) before changing to male at 55-75 cm long.
Fish Distribution:
- This species occurs in tropical and subtropical estuaries throughout the Indo-Pacific region.
- Juveniles live near snags and other structure in rivers, estuaries, and inshore reefs.
- Larger specimens move to offshore reefs as they mature to depths of around 100 m.
Fish Size Common Length:
30-60 cm, maximum size around 120 cm and 40 kg in weight.
Sponsors
Partners
For assistance with identifying fishes, see fishesofaustralia.net.au. For information on size and bag limits, check out the website of your State Fisheries Department.
We thank fishesofaustralia.net.au and Australia's various Fisheries Departments for some of the thumbnail images used to assist with fish identification on this website and its applications, as licensed for use under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australia. Thanks also to Michigan State University and Georgia Aquarium for generous donation of xrays of some US fish species.
