Species profile
Gag Grouper
Mycteroperca microlepis
At a glance
Gag Grouper (Mycteroperca microlepis) is an IUCN Vulnerable bony-fish species regulated in 7 of 66 jurisdictions tracked by CatchRules across the U.S. and Canada.
The strictest bag limit is 1 (Florida); the most generous is 10 (California).
Across 6 jurisdictions with stated minimum sizes, the average minimum is 24.0 in.
Confirmed by 331 research-grade iNaturalist observations, with Florida, North Carolina, and South Carolina the top jurisdictions by observation count.
Notable details
- Gag Grouper form large offshore spawning aggregations each winter, sometimes numbering in the thousands.
- All juvenile Gag Grouper are female; dominant fish transition to male as they age.
- They can exceed 50 pounds and live for more than 25 years.
- Juveniles inhabit shallow seagrass beds, while adults move to deeper offshore reefs.
- Gag Grouper are among the most commercially important reef fish in the Gulf of Mexico.
Where Gag Grouper are seen
Jurisdictions with rules for Gag Grouper
Background
The gag grouper, also known as velvet rockfish, the gag, or charcoal belly, 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 comes from warmer parts of the West Atlantic, including the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico. It is a drab, mottled-gray fish lacking the distinguishing…
Background excerpt adapted from Wikipedia's Gag Grouper article (CC BY-SA). Visit Wikipedia for the full entry.
Other bony fish on CatchRules
Photo credit: iNaturalist / Wikipedia. Identification reference only — verify regulations with the issuing wildlife agency before retaining a catch.