Fish of the Epinephelus genus of the Epinephelinae (groupers) subfamily of the Serranidae family of the superfamily Percoidea of the Percoidei suborder of the Perciformes order of the Acanthopterygii superorder.
(Dogtooth grouper. Photo by © Robert A. Patzner. fishbase.org)
Dogtooth grouper (Epinephelus caninus) was first described in 1848 by the French zoologist and ichthyologist Achille Valenciennes (1794 – 1865).
It inhabits the depth of 30-400 meters. It prefers to swim close to a sandy and silty bottom, not far from rocky ridges and detached boulders. The maximum recorded length is 164 cm. The maximum weight is 80 kilograms, specimens up to 35 kilograms are more common. It feeds on fish and invertebrates.
(Dogtooth grouper. Photo © OCEANA. flickr.com/photos/oceanaeurope)
It is a permanent rare inhabitant of the Adriatic Sea. It doesn’t occur in its northern part.
Names of dogtooth grouper (Epinephelus caninus) in other languages as follows:
Kerni me dhëmbë (Albanian), Βλαχοσφυρίδα (Vljahosfyrida) (Greek), Lokos (Hebrew), Mero dentón (Spanish), Cernia nera (Italian), Hundezahn-Zackenbarsch (German), Granik zębaty (Polish), Зубатый групер (Zubatyj gruper) (Russian), Kernja zubuša, Kirnja zubuša (Serbian, Croatian), Orfoz (Turkish), Mérou gris (French).