Queensland Giant Grouper

This fish is a true giant that even puts sharks on edge. The giant Queensland Grouper is a very confronting fish to witness underwater, they can grow up to 3 meters long and weight up to 600 kilos.
Let’s start with the early years of the grouper which is a very confused one. Groupers when born start out as females, then as they get older they magically switch sex and change to males (no expensive surgery required for this change, Mother Nature takes care of it all).
Groupers like to hang around in groups, if there is no male in a group then the biggest female takes it upon herself to change into the male and make sure that the reproduction of this fish continues.
I don’t know about you but taking care of one female is enough for most of us, the Grouper has to deal with up to 15 partners, very stressful!!!.
The Giant Queensland Grouper is certainly not an active hunter, they prefer to sit on the bottom of the sea and wait for their prey to come close to them, then attack opening their titanic sized mouths often sucking their prey in (not a pleasant experience) . They have 7 rows of teeth in their jaw which is why even sharks are cautious of them as the Giant Queensland Grouper feeds on small sharks, turtles and other fish, but its true favourite meal is the spiny lobster. The Grouper can open and close its huge mouth so fast sometimes the human eye cannot detect the movement.
The life span of this beautiful animal in the wild is around the 50 years, so next time you are swimming past one keep in mind he may well be older then you.
The Queensland Grouper should be close to all Queenslanders hearts as it is the emblem for this beautiful state.
Hear in Mooloolaba we are very lucky to have a healthy population of the Queensland Groupers living on our favourite dive site the HMAS Brisbane, so when you next choose to take a dive around the wreck be careful as you could quite easily find yourself face to face with this true monster sized fish.