Miniatus grouper (coral hind)

Care at a glance

The miniatus grouper is a strikingly patterned, orange-red predator with blue spots that looks small and harmless as a juvenile, but can grow into a real tank-filler within a few years. It is a true ambush hunter that lies motionless in wait until prey strays too close.

Anything that fits in its mouth counts as food: shrimp, small fish and sometimes even mid-sized tankmates disappear without warning. Plan for a large tank from the start, and choose tankmates that are clearly too big to be eaten.

Good to know

• Outgrows most home tanks
• Preys on shrimp and snails

Best not combined with

• Cleaner shrimpLysmata amboinensis
• Peppermint shrimpLysmata wurdemanni

Related species

• Banded pipefishDunckerocampus dactyliophorus
• Cherub angelfish (argi)Centropyge argi
• Longhorn cowfishLactoria cornuta
• Springer’s damselfishChrysiptera springeri
• Azure damselfishChrysiptera hemicyanea
• Sergeant major damselAbudefduf saxatilis