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Epinephelus guttatus
An important commercial species in the western Atlantic, the red hind is a reef-dwelling, robust-bodied, predatory fish. Highly variable in colour, the body of the red hind ranges from cream to greenish-white or pale reddish-brown. The upperparts are typically a light brown, fading to white on the underparts, with five diagonal bars on the sides of the body and a scattering of dull, orange-brown spots on the head, body and fins. The dorsal fin is olive, with a yellow tip on each of the eleven spines, and the tail fin has a broad blackish band with a pale edge. The pectoral fins are pale orange-red, with darker red spots at the base. The body of the red hind is around a third deep as it is long, and large, conspicuous eyes sit behind a gaping jaw armed with two or three rows of strong, slender teeth.
Tom Owens Cay, Belize
Like many other groupers, the red hind displays the remarkable ability to change its sex, starting its life as a female and, more often than not, later changing to a male.
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