camouflage grouper
Epinephelus polyphekadion (Bleeker, 1849)
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Mérou marbré, Egypte 2006, A. Laydier
The original uploader was ALaydier at French Wikipedia. · CC BY-SA 2.5 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
The camouflage grouper (Epinephelus polyphekadion), also known as the blue-tailed cod, camouflage rockcod, small-toothed rockcod, smooth flowery rock-cod, snout-spot grouper or snout-spot rock-cod, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a grouper from the subfamily Epinephelinae which is part of the family Serranidae, which also includes the anthias and sea basses. It has a wide Indo-Pacific distribution where it is associated with reefs. There is actually a French documentary called Le Mystère Mérou ("The Grouper Mystery") about the spawning and behavior of these fish shot in the Atol of Fakarava in French Polynesia.
Wikipedia contributors, Camouflage grouper; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T07:23:50.419923+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Epinephelus polyphekadion (Bleeker, 1849)
- Name authority
- (Bleeker, 1849)
- Common name
- camouflage grouper
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Perciformes
- Family
- Epinephelidae
- Genus
- Epinephelus
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Source habitat flags: Marine: yes · Freshwater: no · Terrestrial: no. These do not form a complete habitat description.
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- gigaclassActinopterygii
- superclassActinopteri
- classTeleostei
- orderPerciformes
- suborderPercoidei
- familyEpinephelidae Bleeker, 1874
- genusEpinephelus Bloch, 1793
- speciesEpinephelus polyphekadion (Bleeker, 1849)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Epinephelus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Epinephelus bleekeri (Vaillant, 1878) | EpinephelidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| rock hindEpinephelus adscensionis (Osbeck, 1765) | EpinephelidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Epinephelus daemelii (Günther, 1876) | EpinephelidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Epinephelus clippertonensis Allen & Robertson, 1999 | EpinephelidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Epinephelus diacanthus (Valenciennes, 1828) | EpinephelidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Epinephelus chlorocephalus (Valenciennes, 1830) | EpinephelidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Epinephelus fasciatomaculosus (Peters, 1865) | EpinephelidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| blue and yellow grouperEpinephelus flavocaeruleus (Lacepède, 1802) | EpinephelidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| flag cabrillaEpinephelus labriformis (Jenyns, 1840) | EpinephelidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Epinephelus latifasciatus (Temminck & Schlegel, 1842) | EpinephelidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| speckled grouperEpinephelus magniscuttis Postel, Fourmanoir & Guézé, 1963 | EpinephelidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Nassau grouperEpinephelus striatus (Bloch, 1792) | EpinephelidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Serranus goldmanni Bleeker, 1855 Bleeker, 1855 | synonym |
| Serranus microdon Bleeker, 1856 Bleeker, 1856 | synonym |
| Epinephelus goldmani (Bleeker, 1855) (Bleeker, 1855) | synonym |
| Epinephelus dispar (Playfair, 1867) (Playfair, 1867) | synonym |
| Serranus dispar var. b Playfair, 1867 Playfair, 1867 | synonym |
| Epinephelus microdon (Bleeker, 1856) (Bleeker, 1856) | synonym |
| Epinephelus polyphekaidon (Bleeker, 1849) (Bleeker, 1849) | synonym |
| Epinephelus polyhekadion (Bleeker, 1849) (Bleeker, 1849) | synonym |
| Serranus polyphekadion Bleeker, 1849 Bleeker, 1849 | synonym |
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=218197 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:6G5RF. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.