Brown comber

Biology

The brown comber is a rather robust fish, with variable colouration, usually brownish to beige, and has two to five darker vertical stripes. In animals from deeper waters, the stripes are often pale. This species is the smallest of the groupers, with a length of about 15 centimetres (bigger ones might reach up to 25 centimetres). It inhabits rocky and sandy bottoms or eel grass beds, in depths between five to 200 metres. It is a solitary fish, which feeds on small crustaceans and fishes and it is thought to be very territorial.

Conservation

It is a valued commercial fish, captured throughout its range.

Curiosities

These fish are hermaphrodites, each individual possessing functional male and female reproductive organs. When a pair spawns, one fish acts as a male and the other acts as a female.