All fish / Serranidae

Blacksaddled Coral Grouper

Plectropomus laevis

Also known as blacksaddled coral trout, black-saddled coral grouper, footballer coral trout, saddled coral trout, chinese footballer, blue-spotted coral trout, harlequin coral trout, ปลากะรังเสือ, kerapu bara, オオアオノメアラ, kerapu sunu, 黑鞍鳃棘鲈

Tankmates, for sale near you Identify a fish from a photo

Juveniles are white with bold black saddles and yellow fins and tail, looking much like a toxic pufferfish, while adults may turn darker with blue spots. It is kept mainly by public aquariums and owners of very large predator systems who value its striking juvenile colouring.

Care at a glance

Care level: Hard
Temperament: Aggressive
Adult size: 70 cm
Temperature: 24 to 28 °C
pH: 8.1 to 8.4
Smallest tank: 3000 litres
Keep as: Singly; one per very large system
Diet: Carnivore: whole fish, prawns, squid and other meaty seafood
Swims: Middle of the tank
Lifespan: 10 to 15 years
Water: Marine (saltwater)
Wild range: Indo-Pacific, East Africa to French Polynesia, including the Great Barrier Reef

Breeding

It spawns in groups at reef aggregation sites and changes sex from female to male with age. It has not been bred in home aquariums.

Good to know

It can exceed 100 cm in the wild and will eat any fish it can swallow, so it is unsuitable for almost all home tanks. Large wild specimens are linked to ciguatera poisoning, and the species is listed as Vulnerable by the IUCN.