The Yellow-edged Lyretail
The Yellow-edged Lyretail (Variola louti) is a species of grouper belongs Actinopterygii class, Perciformes order and Serranidae family; also known as the lyretail grouper or the caramel cod. The yellow-edged lyretail is found from the Red Sea to South Africa and the Pitcairn Islands, as far as southern Japan and Australia. cernia tropicale variola louti
The body is typical of the Grouper, tall and elongated, rather compressed on the sides, with an elongated head and a large mouth, surrounded by thick lips. The fins are pointed and robust. The tail is crescent-shaped, rather wide. The livery generally has a reddish background, more or less stained with light and dark, speckled with light or red. The fins are red, edged with yellow. The young specimens have more anonymous liveries. The one we show you has a dark livery with white dots and the fins are edged with yellow.
This fish reaches up to 83 cm in length and 12 kg in weight. It is distinguished by its lunate tail with a yellow-edged margin. During juvenile phase they look like Parapeneus forsskali or Parapeneus macronema and with them they compete for food and territory.
They lives in lagoons, channels and seaward reefs, from 3m. to 250m. in depth. They diet is mainly of fishes, but also eats crabs, shrimps and stomatopods. Their favorite food, however, are the cephalopods to which they dedicate a ruthless hunt.
Like many other Groupers, they are subject to sport and commercial fishing, their meats being quite valuable and that are well suited to the preparation of delicious dishes. There have been reports of ciguatera poisoning and this has led to the fish being banned from sale in Mauritius. They are fish that adapt well in aquariums and are therefore highly sought after for their elegance and for their bright colors, however due to their size which as we have seen can exceed 80 centimeters in length and 12 kg in weight, they are housed only in public aquariums. cernia tropicale variola louti
(extract from Wikipedia)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow-edged_lyretail
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