Found around the Indo-Pacific region (except the Persian Gulf), this enormous fish can grow up to 2.7 metres (9 feet) in length and weigh almost 400kg (880lb). It is the largest and most widely distributed among all groupers although it is considered rare and the population is difficult to determine.

The Giant Grouper is also the largest reef-dwelling bony fish. It tends to be solitary and is found around coral reef systems in depths from 5–90 metres (15-300 ft). Large individuals are rare and usually have a wreck, ledge or cave that they frequent. They feed on a variety of marine life, including small sharks, young sea turtles, fish, octopus, spiny lobsters and crustaceans. All food is swallowed whole.
Easy to recognise, the Giant Grouper has a large mouth and lips and a rounded tail. Adults have a yellow-green-grey to grey-brown blotched colouring with faint mottling and numerous small black spots on the fins. Juveniles have black and yellow markings.

The smaller-sized Giant Groupers are a popular food item around the world. In Asia the species is also considered to confer good luck and possess medicinal value. This popularity has resulted in declining numbers and the species is listed as ‘vulnerable’ in the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) Red List of threatened animals. This means that the population is thought to be declining at a rate of 20% in ten years.

Vanuatu’s most famous grouper was “Boris” who frequented the famous S.S. President Coolidge wreck in Santo. Allan Power, the ‘guardian of the wreck’, first met Boris in 1969 when he began his dive tours and began feeding him in the mid ‘70s. He was 2.5 M in length and weighed 200kg and waited every day to be fed. He would leave in September and return in January. In 2003 he departed earlier than usual never to return.

Vanuatu Post would like to thank Allan with his considerable help in making this issue possible;
www.allan-power-santo.com