About Guy Harvey
Guy Harvey

Nick Buckley of lobster pot divers keeps me informed about things happening under the waves. He gave me a call to say that the silversides were congregated in a mass near the Eagle Ray Pass dive site on the north wall. Tallyho! I knew from past experience that these aggregations of tiny baitfish brought all the reef predators in one spot for a feed, usually lasting several days. Such a gathering also gives divers tremendous photo opportunities, in having many predators gathered, and distracted by the bounty.
 
The silversides are the smallest of all Caribbean herrings, known as the dwarf herring, Jenkinsia lamprotaenia, a species I studied during my Ph.D research work on herrings around Jamaica, where they are known as ‘cay fry’ or just ‘fry’. They only grow to three inches long and have a very short life span, typically are found close to coral reef areas and shallow back reef areas where they are preyed upon by jacks and cero mackerel as well as by pelicans and seabirds from above.
 
I drifted down off the mooring and could see the ebb and flow of the school of silversides as it was constantly bombarded by predators. The large school of bait fish was hugging the coral crevices at the very lip of the wall. The majority of bait fish had taken refuge in a large crevice in the coral, but others spilled over the coral like mercury. I gave only a brief glance at the usual throng of predatory culprits, bar jacks, yellow jacks, school masters, yellowtail snappers, cero mackerel shooting through at great speed, plus some smaller groupers, the graysby, coneys and rock hinds were waiting their chance to strike. I counted four other species of grouper, the yellowmouth, Nassau, tiger and yellowfin grouper, but where was the black grouper, a much bigger species?
 
I went over the wall, found the entrance to the crevice and swam slowly in, the space becoming wider inside. In the dim light, the millions of tiny bodies swirled back and forth, resisting the charges of black jacks. Then in the background, what I thought was coral rock was the side of a huge black grouper. It seemed unperturbed by my presence, as I held my exhalation and tried to get a clear shot without all the silversides blazing in front of my lens. If only those jacks would ease up for a second! The black grouper was a bland brown colour, and did not have the striking patterns it is known for. I inched closer, and it decided, that was it… close enough mate, and the big grouper flipped up out of the crevice on top of the wall and hung out nearby. I followed and it changed colour before my eyes, becoming very dark, with striking white markings and patterns. I fired away – this was the shot I wanted. It was the biggest black grouper I had ever seen, about 100lbs.
 
The IGFA world record for black grouper is 124lbs. The largest of all groupers found in Cayman waters in the goliath grouper, which grows up to 700lbs. A distinguishing feature separating similar sized blacks and goliaths, apart from colouration is that the black grouper has a squared off tail, with a black margin and the goliath grouper has a rounded tail.
 
The black grouper is found throughout the warm waters of the western Atlantic from Florida to Brazil, including Bermuda, and inhabits shallow back reef areas, around coral heads, as well as living on the deep fore-reef, down to depths of 200 feet. After the goliath grouper it is the largest of the shallow water groupers within reach of divers. Typically I encounter black groupers waiting patiently near a sea fan or coral head, facing into the current, paddling their pectoral fins gently to maintain their position. Unlike the tiger grouper, which is very approachable, particularly when being cleaned, the black grouper is very shy, and one has to approach with stealth to get a good image. On other occasions they are seen high in the water column, moving from one area to another and travel in their plain brown suits. Here they are generally very shy.
 
Black groupers feed on reef fish such as grunts, snappers, squirrelfish and small groupers. By gathering around the swarms of silversides, it is not clear if they are targeting the silversides or they are hunting the medium-sized predators that hang around the bait school. Most likely they are waiting for some silly jack to make the wrong move and open up that bucket mouth like a garbage can. Boom… down the hatch!
 
Juvenile black groupers are prey to large snappers, groupers, sharks and moray eels, whereas adults have just reef sharks, hammerheads and of course humans to fear.
 
Like all other groupers they are hermaphrodites and become mature at about 30 inches long. Black groupers are slow-growing and long-lived fish that may live for 30 years, attaining a weight of 150lbs or more. It is likely that they form spawning aggregations during the full moon months of the winter, as do other species of grouper around the Cayman Islands. Further research here will indicate their site selection and spawning preference. Like all other groupers they have been heavily targeted by commercial and recreational fishermen throughout their range, to the point where many species are overfished, which is why no grouper will be served in a Guy Harvey’s Island Grill facility. Forensic research work conducted by the Guy Harvey Research Institute has demonstrated that many restaurants in the US now serve other species such as tilapia or catfish and are calling it grouper, which indicates two problems. Firstly because of overfishing, many popular species of groupers are no longer commercially available and secondly they are substituting a poorer quality fish and calling it grouper and are therefore misleading the customer.
 
It is our collective responsibility to conserve the marine environment and maintain the biodiversity of the planet.   WH

Fish responsibly, dive safely.
Until next tide,
Guy Harvey PhD.