Food habits and prey selection of three species of groupers from the genus Cephalopholis (Serranidae: Teleostei)

This paper describes a study performed in the Gulf of Aqaba on food selectivity and hunting behaviour of three species of sympatric fish from the genus Cephalopholis. These fishes occur in the shallow-water coral habitats of the Red Sea and feed on fishes and invertebrates. Of these, C. argus and C. miniata prefer selected fish species (95 and 86% of their diet respectively), whereas C. hemistiktos consumes more invertebrates (36%) and is less selective with respect to fish species. All three species employ various techniques to catch their prey and in situations where their elected food is absent they readily switch to substitute prey species.