Kingdom Animalia Class Actinopterygii Family Serranidae | Phylum Chordata Order Perciformes Genus Cephalopholis | |
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Cephalopholis urodeta, known commonly as the Flagtail Grouper or also V-tail Grouper, is a species of marine fish in the family Serranidae.
Contents
Synonyms
Taxonomy
This species was once regarded as widespread in the Indian Ocean, nowadays the Indian Ocean form is regarded to be Cephalopholis nigripinnis (Craig and Hastings 2007).
Description
The V-tail Grouper is a medium size fish and can reach a maximum size of 28 cm length. The basic body color is reddish brown, with two white diagonal bars on the caudal fin. The back half of the body usually is darker and shows a few faint transversal bars.
Biology
These fishes mainly feed on small fishes and crustaceans.
Distribution
The Flagtail Grouper is widespread throughout the tropical waters of the Indo-Pacific area, occurring eastward to French Polynesia and the Pitcairn Islands, and on Christmas Island, Red Sea excluded.
Habitat
Cephaplopholis urodeta can be found in coral reefs and lagoons and prefers shallow waters to depths of about 60 metres (200 ft).