tags: Photographer and Goliath Grouper, Nature's Best Photography, underwater photography, Florida, image of the day
Photographer and Goliath Grouper, Epinephelus itajara.
Image: Michael Patrick ONeill/MSNBC Nature's Best Photography 2008 [larger view].
Photographer comment:
The Goliath grouper is a large predator found in Atlantic, Caribbean, and eastern Pacific reefs. Reaching eight feet in length and weighing up to 800 pounds, it feeds on fish, stingrays, lobster, and even small sea turtles. The ocean off Jupiter, Florida, is a great place to photograph Goliath groupers. They tend to gather near old shipwrecks and around rocky ledges.
Photo information: 10.5mm lens; 1/125 sec at f/6.3; digital capture at ISO 100, Aquatica underwater housing; 2 Inon Z-220s strobes.
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/blushes
I thought his leg was in that grouper's mouth.
Looks like the pacific goliath grouper is a previously unrecognized separate species from the athlantic species.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/08/080821110125.htm
Not to be confused with Goliath groupies, aka Philistines....
That is amazing picture. It's hard to believe that the Goliath grouper is in the same family with the sea bass. there is a huge size deferential between these species. What is the Goliath grouper's closest relative? Is it as big as it? What is its predator?
And notice how all those littler fish are carefully staying behind that big mouth.... ;-)
Interesting why are there so many fish around the grouper, is it because they are small and using it as a kind of protector ?