The main differences between grouper and spot are:

I. Morphological characteristics

Grouper: body generally oval or long oval, laterally compressed; head larger than body height; dorsal fin spines are strong and connected to fin rays, dorsal fin spines are 7~11, fin rays are 10~21; anal fin spines are 3, generally the 2nd is the strongest, number of anal fin rays 7~13; pectoral fin Broad, low, generally rounded; ventral fin below pectoral; mouth large, both jaw teeth inwardly tilted; body covered with small pectinate scales; lateral line reaching base of caudal fin; caudal fin rounded, truncate, or concave.

Spotted Fish: Morphological Characteristics of Spotted FishThe body is cylindrical in the front and laterally compressed at the back; the general body length is 25-40 centimeters. The head is long, slightly flattened at the front and slightly elevated at the back. The body color is gray-black, the back of the body and the top of the head is darker, the abdomen is pale white, the side of the body has irregular black patches, and the top of the head has 2 rows of black spots. The dorsal fin is very long, almost connected to the caudal fin, without hard spines, and begins above the base of the pectoral fin.

The ventral fins are short, the pectoral fins are rounded, and the tips of the fins extend beyond the middle of the ventral fins. The anal fin is shorter than the dorsal fin, and the caudal fin is rounded and does not end in the anus. The anus is located immediately in front of the anal fin. The entire body is clothed with medium-sized round scales and the top of the head is covered with irregular scales. The lateral line is straight, with a small zigzag above the anus and 2 rows of scales shifted downward, located in the middle of the body and extending posteriorly to the caudal base.

Two, living habits

Grouper: Grouper is a benthic fish, and its adult fish mainly inhabits coral reefs and near-shore rocky reefs, and some of them also inhabit in the sea where the substrate is sandy, muddy or silty. Most grouper are solitary fish, and generally do not form groups except in breeding clusters; however, there are some species that live in small groups of one male and several females.

Spotted Fish: Spotted fish survive in water temperatures of 0 ℃ - 41 ℃, the optimal water temperature of 26 ℃ - 28 ℃. When the water temperature reaches 8 ℃ or more in the spring, often in the water column in the upper layer of activity, the summer season is often active in the upper layer of the water column, the fall of the water temperature drops to 6 ℃ or less, swimming slowly, often lurking in the depths of the water, when the water temperature is too low in the winter, it will be the back part of the body submerged in the silt or mounds of grass, the head is exposed in the water does not eat and do not move.

Spotted fish have a strong ability to jump, when the weather is hot, rain, water, spotted fish tend to jump out of the water, along the embankment to escape; in the impact of running water will often also provoke the fish to jump and escape, fleeing the body of the snake-like, slowly moving forward.

Three, the scope of distribution

Grouper: Grouper is widely distributed in the tropical and subtropical waters of the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans. They are mainly distributed in the East China Sea, Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea along the coast of China, in which common species are oblique banded grouper, leopard gill spiny perch, hump-backed perch, green grouper and so on.

Grouper: Grouper is a benthic fish, usually inhabiting the still water or slightly flowing water that is full of aquatic grasses and has a soft bottom mud, and is found in lakes, rivers, reservoirs, ponds and other waters.

Baidu Encyclopedia - Spotted Fish

Baidu Encyclopedia - Grouper