Highfin Grouper

Epinephelus maculatus has a body with a standard length which is 2.8 to 3.1 times its depth. The dorsal profile of the head is convex and the area between the eyes is either flat or marginally convex. The preopercle has a notch above the angle where there are enlarged serrations. The dorsal fin contains 11 spines and 15-17 soft rays while the anal fin has 3 spines and 8 soft rays. The dorsal fin is highest in its anterior spiny part and membranes between the spines are slightly indented. in adults and rounded in juveniles. The caudal fin is convex or rounded. The head and body are covered with regularly spaced brown spots which group into hexagonal shapes on adults of lengths between 25 and 45 centimetres (9.8 and 17.7 in). The juveniles are initially black with blotched with white and as they grow they develops their spots. This species has a maximum published total length of 60.5 centimetres (23.8 in).

Epinephelus maculatus is occurs in the eastern Indian Ocean and Western Pacific Ocean. Its range extends from the Cocos (Keeling) Islands east to Micronesia and Samoa, south to Australia and north to the Ryukyu Islands and Ogasawara Islands of Japan. In Australia is it found around the offshore reefs of Western Australia, the Ashmore Reef in the Timor Sea and Lord Howe Island in the Tasman Sea as well as along the eastern coast from the northern Great Barrier Reef of Queensland south as far as Sydney.