impressive… but harmless
Descending deeper and deeper as its weight increases, this hermaphroditic fish is mainly found near the coast, in rocky shelters where they often take refuge during the day. It goes out to hunt at night, feeding on other fish and molluscs. Rather solitary, groupers only live in pairs at the time of their reproduction.
With its offset jaws, small eyes and massive build, the brown grouper (the most common grouper in the Mediterranean) can sometimes exceed 1.20m for a nice weight of 40kg. Impressive dimensions but make no mistake: this fish, very curious, is neither aggressive nor fearful and will even let itself be stroked in particularly busy areas. This is also what has caused its population to drastically decrease as its capture with a harpoon is so easy (and strictly forbidden!).
It's hard, hard to be a fish.
Indeed, its long life expectancy (50 years) has been greatly reduced due to the activities of fishermen, fond of its tender flesh but also of large trophies. So much so that we find much fewer of them on our coasts, whereas they were abundant in the 1950s.
Add to this a fairly low growth rate and you will understand the fears that led to the creation of protected areas, particularly in the nature reserves of the Lavezzi and Scandola islands. These have proven relatively effective since a significant increase in their population has been observed there.
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