Goliath groupers are giant fish that are on the endangered species list almost everywhere they are found cruising the sea floors. They have been actively sought out by sportfishermen looking for the thrill of catching a fish larger themselves. Up until now every giant grouper that was caught was called a goliath grouper. According to scientists equipped with genetic testing, not all goliath grouper are the same. They recently announced a new species of goliath grouper… Here is an excerpt from the live science article:
“For more than a century, ichthyologists have thought that Pacific and Atlantic goliath grouper were the same species,” said lead researcher Matthew Craig of the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology, “and the argument was settled before the widespread use of genetic techniques.”
The genetic results have shown that pacific goliath grouper, and atlantic goliath grouper posess a different set of DNA which implies that they were separated by what is modern day panama and evolved into completely different species in the goliath grouper family…
Here is a great picture of a man sized goliath grouper from live science…
So now that they will be called different species, will they both remain on the endangered species list?
Full article text can be found at http://www.livescience.com/animals/080821-goliath-grouper.html
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