Toadstool groper
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[Photo] Trachypoma macracanthus (Toadstool groper). Date 19 March 2005. Photo by Ian Skipworth

The toadstool groper, Trachypoma macracanthus, a sea bass of the subfamily Anthiinae of the family Serranidae, is found in the southwest Pacific Ocean, in eastern Australia, the Kermadec Islands, Norfolk Island, Lord Howe Island, and offshore islands of Northland in New Zealand. Its length is between 20 and 40 cm.

The toadstool groper is a solid-bodied species, with no gap between the two dorsal fins the first of which is long and low and the second high and rounded. The tail is slightly convex. The operculum has a distinct point.

Colouration is orange-red with some paler patches and is uniformly covered on both body and fins with close-set white dots, resembling a toadstool.

It lives in crevices and caves of rocky reef areas during the day, moving out to feed during the hours of darkness.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toadstool_groper

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