goliath grouper!

[Sightseek]

Originally Posted by Rudeboyelvis

They banned harvesting them (in Florida, anyway) in 1990 and now there are a ton of them. Virtually every reef has a few and the just inhale everything.

Depending on who you ask, they are thought to be one of the major reasons that there are strict limits on regular grouper now. The limit on Gag and Red grouper was blamed initially on over-fishing, but these things eat everything alive and they have very few if any natural predators. Even with the limited season and size restrictions, the regular grouper numbers have been only modestly increasing.

They are aggressive and will attack scuba divers if they see you have a catch bag with fish in it. If you encounter one while spear fishing, you may as well give up your catch.

National Geographic's August issue had an interesting article on them.