Epinephelus itajara (Lichtenstein, 1822)

González-Lorenzo, J. Gustavo, González-Jiménez, José F. & González, José A., 2021, Review of the family Serranidae (Perciformes) from the Canary Islands (eastern-central Atlantic), with the first records of Serranus hepatus and Epinephelus aeneus, Cybium 45 (2), pp. 141-154 : 147

Epinephelus itajara (Lichtenstein, 1822)

– Atlantic goliath grouper

Epinephelus (Promicrops) esonue : Brito, 1991: 103 (T, GR).

Epinephelus itajara : Brito et al., 2002: 216 (T); Báez et al., 2019: suppl. tab. (C); Freitas et al., 2019: suppl. tab. S3 (C).

An amphi-Atlantic warm-affinity species. In the western Atlantic: from Florida to southern Brazil. In the eastern Atlantic: known from the Canary Islands (rare) and Senegal to Angola ( Heemstra and Anderson, 2016; Freitas et al., 2019; Froese and Pauly, 2020). Eastern Pacific (Gulf of California to Peru) species is now recognized as Epinephelus quinquefasciatus (Bocourt, 1868) ( Heemstra and Randall, 1993; Froese and Pauly, 2020).

A very rare species in waters of the Canaries, where it was first recorded by Brito (1991). Its presence in the region was confirmed by Brito et al. (2002), based on two single captures and one sighting of “very big individuals” off Tenerife, between 15 and 49 m depth. Spanish vernacular names: mero negro, guasa.