According to American Oceans, the world record Goliath grouper is a 680-pound monster caught in 1961. The fish was caught by an angler who fought the fish for over an hour. Not only was this fish approaching 700 pounds, it was seven feet in overall length.
How big is a full grown grouper?
In fact, they can be in excess of nine feet long and can weigh up to 1000 pounds. Another large type of grouper is the Warsaw Grouper. This fish can grow up to 7.5 feet long and it can weigh more than 440 pounds.
Can you eat giant grouper?
You can’t eat them. The mercury can cause erectile dysfunction, so those who harvest them will just take a photo and let the carcass rot,” Sarah Frias-Torres, a marine researcher who has worked extensively on goliath groupers off the Treasure Coast and Palm Beaches.
How big are the biggest groupers?
The giant grouper (Epinephelus lanceolatus) is one of the largest reef-dwelling fish. It may grow to more than 9.8 feet long (300 cm) and reach weights of over 800 pounds (>400 kg).
What is the largest grouper ever caught? – Related Questions
Do sharks eat groupers?
A Southwest Florida couple didn’t expect to see something ‘huge bobbing’ in the water when they went fishing Sunday morning. Stephanie Morris, of Estero, and her boyfriend were 10 miles off the coast of Port Charlotte when they saw a tiger shark eating a grouper.
Can a goliath grouper hurt you?
Although the attack may be defensive, this massive fish has numerous sharp teeth that can cause significant harm to an unwitting diver or any other organism entering its home range. The goliath grouper is considered one of the largest fish in the sea bass family.
What is the largest goliath grouper ever?
The goliath grouper is the largest grouper in the western Atlantic. Growing to lengths of 8.2 feet (2.5 m), this grouper can weigh as much as 800 pounds (363 kg). In Florida, the largest hook and line captured specimen weighed 680 pounds (309 kg). The oldest verifiable goliath grouper on record is 37 years.
How big do giant goliath groupers get?
These gentle giants are goliath grouper, the largest of the groupers in the Atlantic basin. Goliath grouper, which were once known as jewfish, can grow to more than eight feet in length and 800 pounds.
How old is a 600 pound grouper?
Biologists with the FWC Research Institute estimate the fish is 50 years old. Warsaw groupers can grow to nearly eight feet long and can weigh up to nearly 600 pounds. The largest ever caught in Florida weighed nearly 440 pounds.
How much are goliath groupers worth?
A 20-36-inch goliath grouper probably weighs 12-25 pounds, meaning an angler would be in for about $40 per pound to harvest one.
What is the biggest fish ever caught?
According to IGFA records, the largest fish ever caught was a great white shark that weighed an unbelievable 2,664 pounds (1,208.389 kg.). Caught off the coast of Ceduna, Australia, in 1959, it took angler Alfred Dean just 50 minutes to win the fight against this one-ton shark.
Why is it illegal to take a goliath grouper out of the water?
The skeletal structure of a large goliath grouper cannot support its weight out of the water and if brought aboard a vessel or removed from the water, the fish may sustain fatal injuries. FWC recommends anglers also keep smaller goliath groupers in the water when removing a hook.
Is it legal to keep goliath grouper?
A recreational harvest of up to 200 goliath per year, with a maximum of 50 from Everglades National Park. A required recreational goliath harvest permit and tag, issued via a random-draw lottery, to legally harvest a goliath ($150 for residents, $500 for non-residents).
What does grouper taste like?
Grouper has a mild yet distinct flavor, somewhere between Bass and Halibut. The taste of most Grouper is similar, with slight differences in flavor and texture, depending on size, species and location of harvest. Red Grouper is sweeter and milder than Black Grouper.
Can a grouper survive in fresh water?
There are aquarium keepers that have kept bumble bee groupers successfully in freshwater for several years but this is not recommended and they will eventually need to be moved to saltwater environment.
What is the average lifespan of a goliath grouper?
Meet the Goliath Grouper
Physically, the groupers average around 400 pounds and they have been recorded to live up to 37 years for males and 26 years for females.
How deep do grouper fish live?
Life History and Distribution. This grouper lives at depths from 7 to 450 feet (2 to 137 meters). Yellowfin grouper habitat includes reefs and rocky or muddy bottoms. Juveniles live in seagrass beds until mature enough to move offshore.
Are groupers intelligent?
Nassau Groupers are plentiful in the Caribbean and they are one of the biggest and most successful hunters on the reef. Highly intelligent, agile and powerful, they seek out and capture their prey by inhaling rapidly, sucking the smaller fish into their mouth.
How old is the oldest grouper?
You neverknow what you’ll get when you go fishing in Florida. You might accidentallycatch an alligator, a snake – or, for one man, the oldest grouper on record. Researchers estimate that the Warsaw grouper, caught in December, was 50 years old.
What is the oldest fish on earth?
Scientists believe that Methuselah, an Australian lungfish, is about 90 years old.