Blog Post Thirty
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This beautiful fish is a Peacock Grouper, Cephalopholis Argus, or more commonly known as Roi here in Hawaii. Roi is actually not the Hawaiian name but rather Tahitian, but that is how it is referred to in Hawaii. It’s scientific name Argus comes from Greek Mythology the “all-seeing” 100 eyed giant. It has a brownish body and is covered by blue iridescent spots, and larger fish usually have a few vertical bars toward the tail.
These fish did not originate in Hawaii, they were introduced in the 1950s from French Polynesia. Initially brought in to be a source of food, but then became a popular game fish by the 1970s. This is because they contained Ciguatera. Ciguatera is a toxin consumed by the fish that remains in the meat, and when people eat it they may experience nausea, vomiting, and neurological symptoms. They brought in more than 2000 fish. They are an ambush predator that prefer water less than 130 feet and lots of coral coverage. The grouper is slow to grow and can live up to 25 years. They found the grouper to be an aggressive predator and feared that it was destroying our smaller native fish. It was studied and found out that near-shore fisheries were in slow decline or decades before Roi were introduced. They do prey upon juvenile Parrot fish and Surgeon fish. However, they were not solely responsible for the loss of native reef fish. Most people have still not come around to eating them in Hawaii due to Ciguatera, but their meat is prized in other places in the world.
While snorkeling, they are beautiful to see if you catch a glimpse. They are fast and like to hide. They will hunt cooperatively with eels and octopuses. Here is where the fun begins, the Grouper will have an eel go into a crevice to scare out smaller fish, and if the eel does not catch it first, it falls prey to the Grouper.