DUSKY GROUPER / MERO

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Meros of Madeira / Porto Santo
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The dusky grouper is a solitary fish. It likes to live alone in rocks, at depths from the coast to 300 meters, but it's rare to find it below 60 meters. It has a barometric distribution, where the younger specimens are found near the coast and the older ones at the depths.
It normally has one cave considered as home and several other caves as temporary refuges. Its home has a minimum of two exits, and a size slightly bigger than the grouper, so no bigger animal can enter in. In case of biting attack or other force to extract it, the grouper opens its mouth, and the operculum spines wedge it inside the cave.
It can be found in the Mediterranean, the African west coast and the coast of Brazil. It is rare in the waters of the western Indian ocean, Uruguay, Argentina, north of France and the British Isles.