Life and Island Times July 20 2016 – Square Grouper

This one is from 2014.

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From Marlow’s days in the Keys during the early 70s, square grouper was a species unique to American island waters. They were first discovered and named by the US Coast Guard during their routine patrols of US territorial waters.

Subsequent study revealed that these groupers spawned from small boats, go-fasts, treetop flying airplanes.

Epenephelus Plasticus/Burlapus
aka Square Grouper

Size: 3’ (91cm) 28” (71cm) Weight: 50 lbs (average)

Color: Greenish brown with scattered dark spots. Often observed with chain like hemp colored lines running dorsal to ventral and horizontally around the entire fish.

Flesh: army green leaf-like, possessing a sweet smell in the subspecies dopous; bright green cashus in the subspecies holishit-im-rischous.

Comments: Square Grouper was one of the most commercially important and prized groupers of the Florida Keys waters.

It was not very wary and was often caught by hand and hauled into the boat.

At one time, a single Square Grouper dopous could bring the lucky fisherman up to $25,000. The rarer holishit-im-rischous were said to be far more valuable up into the six figure region. Sadly, there are tales of holishit-im-rischous fishermen who contacted fatal lead poisoning soon after their lucky catch.

It was a very popular sport fish and often occurred in accessible areas.

For a variety of reasons dopous has declined in number and is now protected in the Florida Keys.

Possession of Square Grouper can results in fines and imprisonment.

Other common Latin names for Square Grouper dopous include: Potus. Weedus, Gonjus & Cannibus.

Reference: Common Grouper Journal Author: Dr Smokemup

When the US Defense Department started using its surveillance equipment to assist the Coast Guard and DEA eradication of the exotic large square grouper from American waters, the spawn began to fall off. What finally made the spawn virtually disappear from Florida waters was a Columbian powder.

This powder spawned much smaller kilogram sized Square Grouper snortous cocainus was far more valuable on the market. Due to their size, they were rarely caught or observed in coastal waters. Possession and/or ingestion of this new smaller grouper’s flesh often resulted in poisoning deaths.

Square Grouper: rare holishit-im-rischous (l) and common dopous ®

Square Grouper snortous cocainus

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