Report A Grouper Sighting

Report It Here

Key Information

Essential Fish Habitat

Learn about the importance of the habitats in Puerto Rico that groupers use for their lifecycle.

Learn More

Decending Device

Learn about how to release caught groupers using a fish descending device and find out where to request your own!

Learn More

Free Grouper Guide

Are you a fisher? Send us a message to request your free Grouper Guide.

Learn More

Popular Groupers

Nassau (Epinephelus striatus)

Local Name: Mero cherna

Regulations:

The capture, possession, and sale of this grouper is illegal year around!
Goliath (Epinephelus itajara)

Local Name: Mero batata

Regulations:

The capture, possession, and sale of this grouper is illegal year around!
Red Hind (Epinephelus guttatus)

Local Name: Mero cabrilla

Regulations:

The capture, possession, and sale of this grouper is illegal December 1st - February 28th / 29th in PR and West EEZ.
Yellowfin (Mycteroperca venenosa)

Local Name: Guajil aleta amarilla

Regulations:

The capture, possession, and sale of this grouper is illegal February 1st - April 30th in PR and EEZ.

VIEW ALL GROUPERS

Critical Habitat Locations In Puerto Rico

Below is a map of critical habitat locations in Puerto Rico that the Nassau grouper relies on for its lifecycle.
Hover your mouse over one of the green areas to learn more about that critical habitat. Additional information Click Here.

Vieques: Very shallow reef areas (sometimes as shallow as ~2 m) around Vieques act as important juvenile habitats. Groupers need these areas for early growth, relying on dense habitat (like seagrass and reefs) to hide, feed, and survive their most vulnerable life stages.

Area Near Rio Fajardo: Shallow coastal and reef areas along the northeast coast provide nursery and early life habitat. Young groupers need calm waters, vegetation, and reef structure here for protection from predators and steady food sources as they develop.

Area Near El Faro De Cobo Rojo: Coastal waters near places like La Parguera include seagrass beds, mangroves, and patch reefs. Juvenile groupers depend on this area as a nursery habitat, needing shallow, protected waters with plenty of food and hiding places to grow before moving offshore.

Desecheo: This area includes reef slopes, ledges, and complex rocky habitats. Groupers rely on it for feeding, shelter, and spawning, needing crevices and reef complexity to hide, as well as access to prey and safe areas to form spawning aggregations.

Isla Mona y Monito: Waters around these offshore islands (down to ~50 m) contain coral reefs, rocky bottoms, and steep drop-offs. Nassau grouper use these areas mainly for spawning and adult habitat, needing deep reef structures, shelter from predators, and specific sites where they can gather in groups to reproduce.

Culebra y Culebrita: These waters include nearshore reefs, ledges, and transition zones between shallow and deeper habitats. Groupers use them as movement corridors and juvenile habitat, needing connected habitats that allow them to safely move, find food, and gradually shift to deeper adult reefs.

Bajo De Sico: Bajo de Sico is a deep, complex reef system that serves as Puerto Rico’s main (and only known) Nassau grouper spawning site, providing the structure, space, and stability they need to reproduce and survive.