SERRANIDAE Epinephelus amblycephalus, 14.8 cm SL (Photo by Seishi Kimura) Epinephelus amblycephalus (Bleeker, 1857) Banded Grouper D XI, 15-16; A III, 8; P1 18-19; P2 I, 5; LLp 47-52; GR 8 + 14-16. Body moderately elongate; body depth less than head length, 2.5-3.0 in SL. Head length 2.1-2.4 in SL. Posteroventral preopercular margin with 3-6 enlarged serrae. Dorsal-fin membranes slightly incised between spines. Caudal fin rounded. Pectoral fin middle rays longest, its length equal to longest pelvic-fin ray, 1.7-2.3 in head length. Lateral body scales ctenoid, with a few auxiliary scales in adults. Color: body pale gray, with 5 broad dark brown bars, first 2 extending into spinous portion of dorsal fin, third and fourth bars extending into soft-rayed portions of dorsal and anal fins, fifth dark bar at base of caudal fin. Small black spots on dorsal parts of body bars, mainly along the edges of the bars. Size: maximum length 50 cm. Distribution: distributed in the eastern Indian Ocean and central western Pacific, from the Andaman Sea east to Fiji. Remarks: usually found on offshore coral and rocky reefs in depths of 80-130 m.(Hiroyuki Motomura)