Clipperton Grouper, Epinephelus clippertonensis

Clipperton Grouper, Epinephelus clippertonensis. Fish caught from coastal waters off Point Palmilla, Baja California Sur, January 2017. Length: 24 cm (9.4 inches).

Clipperton Grouper, Epinephelus clippertonensis. Fish caught from coastal waters off Point Palmilla, Baja California Sur, January 2017. Length: 28 cm (11 inches). Note the excessively long point snout of this fish.

Clipperton Grouper, Epinephelus clippertonensis. Fish caught from coastal waters off Puerto Los Cabos, Baja California Sur, June 2008. Length: 40 cm (16 inches). Identification courtesy of Dr. Matt Craig, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, California and reconfirmed by H.J. Walker, Jr., Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, California.

Clipperton Grouper, Epinephelus clippertonensis. Fish caught from off the Gordo I Bank,  Baja California Sur, March 2022. Length: 40 cm (16 inches).

The Clipperton Grouper, Epinephelus clippertonensis, is a member of the Grouper or Epinephelidae Family, and is known in Mexico as cabrilla de Clipperton. The Clipperton Grouper was named after the location where it was first discovered, the uninhabited French-owned Clipperton Island, located 1,120 km (695 miles) southwest of mainland Mexico. They were first reported in the literature in 1999. Globally, there are one hundred species in the genus Epinephelus, of which eleven are found in Mexican waters, six in the Atlantic and five in the Pacific Ocean.

The Clipperton Grouper has a pale gray to light brown robust compressed body that is covered with white spots and flecks throughout. They have a small black saddle on the upper part of their caudal fin base and all of their soft fins have red margins. Their anal fin has 3 spines and 8 rays; their caudal fin is rounded; and their dorsal fin has 11 spines and 15 to 16 rays.

The Clipperton Grouper is found over rocky bottoms at depths up to 100 m (330 feet). They reach a maximum length of 61 cm (2 feet 0 inches) and 2.0 kg (4 lbs 4 oz) in weight. They are solitary predators and feed primarily on crustaceans at night and on small fish during the day. The Clipperton Grouper is poorly studied with very limited information available about their lifestyle and behavioral patterns including specific details on age, growth, longevity, movement patterns, diet, habitat use, and reproduction. They are an exceedingly rare species and very little is known their about behavioral patterns.

The Clipperton Grouper is a resident of Mexican waters of the Pacific Ocean but has a very limited distribution being found from Cabo Pulmo to Todos Santos, Baja California Sur, around the tip of the Baja and around the Alijos Rocks, Baja California Sur and Revillagigedos oceanic islands. Their presence around the tip of the Baja has been established by several fish that I have caught.

The Clipperton Grouper is difficult to identify and often confused with the Flag Cabrilla, Epinephelus labriformis (prominent mid-body spotting; prominent black spot on upper part of caudal fin base).  I would estimate that 99% of all Mexican fishermen will consider these two species to be one and the same, i.e. “Cabrilla.”

From a conservation perspective the Clipperton Groupers has not been formally evaluated. They are exceedingly rare with a very limited distribution range and therefore of limited interest.