[backlash]

I caught this while fishing around some piers in the Cape Fear at Carolina Beach this past weekend. I tried to identify it using my Fish ID book. I have an idea but I'm a little confused by the book.

 

[sundrop]

I beleive that's a little grouper..

 

[RedMenace]

looks like a juvenile gag grouper. We used to catch the a lot around sea walls and docks.

 

[backlash]

That was my guess. Thanks!!!!

 

[sinker man]

Blacks look similar but their markings are more rectangular and blacks are generally a little bit darker looking. It is best to have the book with you when you are fishing for offshore bottom fish until you pretty well know them all. Size and bag limits are different for different species. Some of the others can be pretty tough to distinguish for the first time also.

 

[backlash]

Sinkerman , I agree. However, the size limit on both Black and Gag Grouper is 24 inches and it would have been a pretty good stretch for this fish in either case. I have a simple rule , if I can't identify it or know it's size limit, I don't keep it. Always play it safe.

 

[Dave B.]

Gag groupah!

 

[Jeffonc]

What does the "gag" in gag grouper mean?

 

[Topsail Angler]

I'm not sure where the name comes from but it is misleading - it is a fine tasting fish!

 

[Dave B.]

What does the "gag" in gag grouper mean?

Dont know if this will help, but check link below:

Florida Museum of Natural History Ichthyology Department: Gag Grouper

Taxonomy

This grouper was first described as Trisotropis microlepis by Goode and Bean in 1879. However, this name was later changed by taxonomists to the currently valid Mycteroperca microlepis (Goode and Bean, 1879). The genus name, Mycteroperca, is derived from the Greek, "mykter, -eros" meaning nose and "perke" meaning perch. The species name, microlepis, is derived from the Greek "micro" small and "lepis" meaning scale, in reference to the small scales covering the body of this fish.

Some folks tend to believe that gag's and black groupah's are the same... I was always under the impression that they are two different animals.

Either way,, to me,, a groupah is a groupah! they eat the same, fight the same.. and dang near look the same... so calling a black groupah a gag or vice versa... doesnt matter, it's a groupah and a fine eatin fish!

These are pic sof a black groupah's:

gag groupah pix:

 

[Dave B.]

looks like a juvenile gag grouper. We used to catch the a lot around sea walls and docks.

Redmenace is right, juvenile gag!

 

[tadpole1]

You know when Backlash caught that fish I told him I thought it was a Trisotropis microlepis.

 

[backlash]

You know when Backlash caught that fish I told him I thought it was a Trisotropis microlepis.

I'll know not to doubt you in the future.

 

[RedMenace]

uh, yeah....what Dave said!
Nice pics by the way. Whole lot of good eating

 

[Topsail Angler]

The problem with identifying a gag versus black grouper is that after the fish has been dead a while it is very difficult to tell the difference. Color/pattern is the only difference in the two (same number of fins, shape of fins, etc) and that fades after the fish dies. That is why many states including NC do not differentiate between the two (for state records and citations). But fresh like in the picture you had and the ones Dave shows - it's easier to tell the difference (using the info Sinker Man pointed out).