It is a solitary and territorial species typical of rocky areas. They are curious and affable, easily creating links with divers, so it is highly valued for the sub-aquatic tourism.

The sequence number is a hermaphroditic species reach sexual maturity and females and males becoming around 10 to 16 (70 to 80 cm in length). Sexual maturity in the wild is between 5 and 7 years old. They can reach 60 kg and live up to 50 years. In Portugal, the species has a distribution along the entire coast, being more common in the Azores. It is still in the Mediterranean, North Africa and South West Atlantic.

The species is an important target of commercial, sport fishing and diving and due to their low resilience and high vulnerability is on the red list of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as endangered species

Mero (Epinephelus marginatus)

EN- grouper; FR –mérou; SP – mero moreno;

NL – Tandbaars; DE - Brauner Zackenbarsch)