Brown Spotted Reef Cod
Encyclopedia
The Brown Spotted Reef Cod (E. chlorostigma), known as Souman or Hamour-e Khaldar-e Qahvei in Persian
and commonly as brownspotted grouper in English, is one of the largest coral
dwelling fish to be found in and around the Persian Gulf
locale.
E. chlorostigma has a pale green gray body covered with small circular brown blotches, except for its belly which is lighter in color. When aroused, the fish is able to change its body shading according to its surroundings. Five dark brown vertical bands appear along the body. Its mouth is very large and capable of being opened to the width of the body diameter.
E. chlorostigma has large pectoral and caudal fins that enable it to move and maneuver quickly through the water. It is a reef-dwelling fish and prefers coral caves or rock crevices in which to live. It feeds on crab
s, cuttle fish and almost any other small fish. It is shy and lazy in its habits. When feeding, E. chlorostigma hides in its cave opening or in between corals and waits for some unsuspecting prey to pass by close enough to be pounced upon and swallowed whole. Predators are usually warned off by an impressive display of mouth gaping.
Cooked Hamour in all its forms (stew, grilled, or fried) is a highly prized dish in Southern parts of the Persian Gulf and "baby hamour" is a delicacy found numerous upscale restaurants.
Persian language
Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...
and commonly as brownspotted grouper in English, is one of the largest coral
Coral
Corals are marine animals in class Anthozoa of phylum Cnidaria typically living in compact colonies of many identical individual "polyps". The group includes the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and secrete calcium carbonate to form a hard skeleton.A coral "head" is a colony of...
dwelling fish to be found in and around the Persian Gulf
Persian Gulf
The Persian Gulf, in Southwest Asia, is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.The Persian Gulf was the focus of the 1980–1988 Iran-Iraq War, in which each side attacked the other's oil tankers...
locale.
E. chlorostigma has a pale green gray body covered with small circular brown blotches, except for its belly which is lighter in color. When aroused, the fish is able to change its body shading according to its surroundings. Five dark brown vertical bands appear along the body. Its mouth is very large and capable of being opened to the width of the body diameter.
E. chlorostigma has large pectoral and caudal fins that enable it to move and maneuver quickly through the water. It is a reef-dwelling fish and prefers coral caves or rock crevices in which to live. It feeds on crab
Crab
True crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura, which typically have a very short projecting "tail" , or where the reduced abdomen is entirely hidden under the thorax...
s, cuttle fish and almost any other small fish. It is shy and lazy in its habits. When feeding, E. chlorostigma hides in its cave opening or in between corals and waits for some unsuspecting prey to pass by close enough to be pounced upon and swallowed whole. Predators are usually warned off by an impressive display of mouth gaping.
Cooked Hamour in all its forms (stew, grilled, or fried) is a highly prized dish in Southern parts of the Persian Gulf and "baby hamour" is a delicacy found numerous upscale restaurants.