Groupers

Groupers typically have a stout body and a large mouth. They are not built for long-distance, fast swimming. They swallow prey rather than biting pieces off it. They do not have many teeth on the edges of their jaws, but they have heavy crushing tooth plates inside the pharynx. They habitually eat fish, octopuses, and crustaceans. Their mouths and gills form a powerful vacuum which pulls their prey in from a distance.

Some species of groupers are known to cooperate with giant morays in hunting. Groupers are also one of the only animals that eat invasive red lionfish (not yet sighted in Malta).

Groupers are widely distributed in warm seas and are often dully coloured in greens or browns, but a number are brighter, more boldly patterned fishes.

Groupers are protogynous hermaphrodites; that is, they first function as females and later transform into males.