Yellowfin grouper

The yellowfin grouper (Mycteroperca venenosa) is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a grouper from the subfamily Epinephelinae which is part of the family Serranidae, which also includes the anthias and sea basses. It is found in the warmer waters of the western Atlantic Ocean.

Habitat

The yellowfin grouper is found over rocky or coral reefs as adults; juveniles are found in beds of turtle grass. This species has also been caught by trawlers over muddy bottoms in the Gulf of Mexico. Its depth range is 2 to 137 metres (6.6 to 449.5 ft).

Distribution

The yellowfin grouper is found in the western Atlantic Ocean. Its range extends along the Atlantic coasts of the United States from North Carolina south to Florida and into the Gulf of Mexico where it occurs in the Florida Keys and the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary in Texas south through the Bahamas into the West Indies and the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. It is also found around Bermuda. Along the Caribbean coast of South America it occurs as far east as French Guiana. It the occurs along the Brazilian coast from Maranhão to São Paulo, including the islands of Trindade and the Fernando de Noronha.