Fish ID

 A mate got 3 of these buggers in 190m off exmouth! Any ideas? It's not a gray band an not a mulloway 

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Any one free to help me pull my drum lines tomorrow? 

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Ben Derecki's picture

Posts: 1926

Date Joined: 10/10/07

Looks like a bass groper?I'll

Thu, 2014-05-15 23:50

Looks like a bass groper.

I'll leave it to the deep drop gurus to confirm though...

reece's picture

Posts: 522

Date Joined: 10/07/08

 Nah not a bass or puka

Fri, 2014-05-16 08:38

 Nah not a bass or puka

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Any one free to help me pull my drum lines tomorrow? 

MattMiller's picture

Posts: 4171

Date Joined: 15/06/09

Glen Moore?

Fri, 2014-05-16 11:40

looks like something he'd be interested in

Dropbear88's picture

Posts: 56

Date Joined: 02/08/10

what depth did he get

Fri, 2014-05-16 11:48

what depth did he get them??

it looks very similar to the big "blue bastards" i have seen caught there. get quite dark through the body, and the fins and eye position look the same. see what you think, pic of one below

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Dunsborough Outdoor Sportz

 www.dunsborougoutdoorsportz.com.au

Brucesta's picture

Posts: 1721

Date Joined: 29/05/09

won't be a blue bastard. must

Fri, 2014-05-16 11:49

won't be a blue bastard. must be a 8 bar or Harpuka there i would have thought, whatever it is it'll taste alright.

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Dropbear88's picture

Posts: 56

Date Joined: 02/08/10

just read on. 190m of water.

Fri, 2014-05-16 11:49

just read on. 190m of water. dont know if blue bastards go that deep.

 

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Dunsborough Outdoor Sportz

 www.dunsborougoutdoorsportz.com.au

Leemo's picture

Posts: 3712

Date Joined: 22/02/07

Glenn Moore

Fri, 2014-05-16 15:30

 original thought was a puka - then 8 bar. One for Glenn for sure. 

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bludgin' since 94'

SEAFORCE CORAL BAY's picture

Posts: 150

Date Joined: 09/12/13

 The camera flash puts you

Mon, 2014-05-19 17:15

 The camera flash puts you off a bit but 8 Bar

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Alan James's picture

Posts: 2208

Date Joined: 30/06/09

I'm undecided on this

Mon, 2014-05-19 17:31

I agree that the camera flash is deceptive but there is no visible sign of white on the fins which is common to 8 bar. It also looks a bit slender for an 8 bar but that maybe camera angle.
I sent a pm to Glenn Moore on this one earlier today so it will be interesting to see his comments.

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MattMiller's picture

Posts: 4171

Date Joined: 15/06/09

Really

Mon, 2014-05-19 17:36

head shapes a bit off, body quite lean, no white edges on any fins, lack of bars (though not unusual)?

Where Glenn when we need him?

 

LOL, beat me by that much Alan

Glenn Moore's picture

Posts: 228

Date Joined: 13/02/12

Dotted Grouper

Tue, 2014-05-20 08:43

OK, this one is tricky and would be nice to examine the fish in detail.  However after doing a bit of research, I've decided this is a large Dotted Grouper Epinephelus epistictus .  Bucko got a smaller one just a few weeks ago http://mobile.fishwrecked.com/forum/deep-drop-exmouth-fish-id.  So, as Alan and Matt and others noted, the head shape is a bit different to the Eightbar - in fact the thing that stood out the most to me was just how long the head is (we measure the head from the upper lip to the rear edge of the gill cover).  The white edges to the fins should still be visible in an Eightbar of this size.  Large Dotted Groupers can lose the dots, but if you look carefully, there are still a few midbody, above the pectoral fin.  I can also make out some faint markings on the head, which you'd expect in Dotted Groupers.

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Glenn Moore

Curator of Fishes

Western Australian Museum

twitter @WestOzFish

 

 

Alan James's picture

Posts: 2208

Date Joined: 30/06/09

Thanks Glenn

Tue, 2014-05-20 18:10

appreciate you input as always.

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bitten's picture

Posts: 803

Date Joined: 07/04/10

 deffinatly a dotted

Fri, 2014-05-23 04:12

 deffinatly a dotted