Potato grouper
(Epinephelus tukula)

The potato grouper (Epinephelus tukula), also called the potato cod or potato bass, 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 has a wide Indo-Pacific distribution.

The potato grouper has a standard length which is 2.9 to 3.5 times its depth. It has a slightly convex region between the eyes and the dorsal profile of the head is straight. The preopercle is rounded or subangular and it has slightly enlarged serrations at its corner while the gill cover has a straight upper margin.

There are 11 spines and 14-15 soft rays in the dorsal fin and three spines and eight rays in the anal fin. The membranes between the dorsal fin spines are notched. The caudal fin is rounded.

This species is pale brownish-grey in overall colour and it is covered in large dark widely separated blotches. Dark lines radiate out from the eyes and there are small dark spots on the fins. The dark blotches on the body are thought to resemble potatoes in shape and thus give rise to the common name.

This is a large and robust species of grouper which attains a maximum published length of 200 centimetres (79 in) and a weight of 110 kilograms (240 lb).

The potato grouper has a wide distribution in the Indian and Pacific Oceans but is uncommon to rare in most areas. It is commonest along the coast of eastern Africa from the Red Sea to KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa and around the Indian Ocean islands of Madagascar, Seychelles, Mauritius and Réunion. It further occurs off western India and Sri Lanka east into the Pacific where it reaches as far east as the Solomon Islands, north to southern Japan and south to Australia.

It has not been recorded in the Persian Gulf.

In Australia it is distributed from Shark Bay in Western Australia along the northern coasts to Moreton Bay in Queensland. It is also found on the Great Barrier Reef.