Epinephelus caninus (Dogtooth grouper)
The Epinephelus caninus (Dogtooth grouper) is a fish that lives in muddy and sandy sea bottoms at a depth of 40 to 400 metres.
It is one of the largest types in its family reaching 150 centimetres in length and 70 kilos in weight , even though its usual length does not exceed 80 centimetres and its weight 6 kilos.
Many fishermen confuse it with the grouper (Epinephelus aeneus), with which it has some morphological similarities. Its feeds on fish, octopus, calamari, cuttlefish, prawns and crabs. The epinephelus caninus is a shemale cum type, it matures sexually as a female and then transforms into a male.
It can be caught with thick longlines, static nets and bottom trawl nets. Its meat is considered to be of very good quality. The Epinephelus caninus is quite vulnerable in fishing, mainly due to its ease in catching it, but also due to its slow rhythms of reproduction and increase. The European rules define minimum size of its fishing in the Mediterranean as being 45 centimetres.
