Black Grouper

This fish attains a maximum total length of 150 centimetres (59 in), although they are more common at around 70 centimetres (28 in) and a maximum published weight of 100 kilograms (220 lb). Myctoperca bonaci has an oblong, laterally compressed body with a standard length which is 3.3 to 3.5 times its depth. It has an evenly rounded preopercle with no incisions or lobes at its angle. The dorsal fin contains 11 spines and 15-17 soft rays while the anal fin has 3 spines and 11-13 soft rays, both fins having rounded margins. The caudal fin is truncate to emarginate, although it may be convex if spread widely.

Mycteroperca bonaci is found in the western Atlantic where its range extends from Cape Canaveral in Florida and Bermuda south to the Bahamas, into the Gulf of Mexico as far north as Alabama and from southern Texas along the coast of Mexico and Cuba. It occurs throughout the Caribbean Sea, along the coast of South America to Santa Catarina in Brazil. Its range extends to the Brazilian islands of Trindade and Fernando de Noronha. There is a gap in its distribution along the northern coast of South America between Paramaribo in Suriname and Maranhão in Brazil. Occurrences in United States waters north to Massachusetts are juveniles and therefore considered vagrants.

The recorded predators of Mycteroperca bonaci include sandbar shark (Carcharhinus plumbeus) and great hammerhead (Sphyrna mokarran) while they may also be prey for great barracuda (Sphyraena barracuda) and moray eels. Black groupers are hosts to a variety of common parasites which include endoparasites affecting stomach and intestines and ectoparasites which live on its skin.

Mycteroperca bonaci is an IUCN Red List near threatened species, vulnerable to increases in exploitation because it is a relatively slow breeder.