Miniatus grouper

Care at a glance

Overview

Give a single miniatus grouper at least 680 litres with a solid rock structure full of caves, kept at 22 to 26 C and pH 8.0 to 8.4. It is coral safe but will eat small fish, shrimp and crabs, so treat it as reef-with-caution and only house it with larger, robust tankmates. Feed a varied meaty diet of chunky marine fish, shrimp and squid two or three times a week. It jumps and needs a covered tank.

In the wild

The miniatus grouper is a bright orange-red reef hind covered in small blue spots, built to sit on a ledge and rush out at prey. It spends most of the day perched inside a cave or overhang and darts out to grab any fish or shrimp that swims too close. As it grows it becomes very territorial and will chase other bottom fish out of its chosen patch of rock.

Good to know

Cephalopholis miniata is a member of the grouper family Serranidae and is a protogynous hermaphrodite, meaning individuals mature first as females and larger dominant fish later turn male. It reaches around 45 cm in the wild, though aquarium fish usually stay closer to 30 cm. The blue spots fade and brighten with mood and health.

Did you know

Coral hinds hold small feeding territories on the reef and have been filmed teaming up with roving moray eels, signalling to the eel to flush prey out of holes the grouper cannot reach.

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