A massive 350-pound Warsaw grouper fish was caught in 600 feet of water off the coast of Southwest Florida on December 29th. The catch was incredibly rare, especially for one this size because so little information has been gathered about them.
https://www.facebook.com/FWCResearch/photos/pcb.3398373330178709/3398398110176231/?type=3&theater
They are fish that are found in the Atlantic Ocean starting from Massachusetts, USA, all the way down to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. They’re known to live in deep water ranging from 180 feet to 1700 feet and feed on other fish and crustaceans. They can grow up to 7.5 feet long and weigh 580 pounds and the state record for one caught in Florida is 436 pounds.
The larger and older fish are usually found in the deepest parts of the waters, however, most of the time only ones ever seen are the younger juveniles because they occasionally swim around jetties and shallow-water reefs.
https://www.facebook.com/FWCResearch/photos/pcb.3398373330178709/3398398380176204/?type=3&theater
The FWC’s Fish and Wildlife Research Institute reported the catch on Facebook and said their Age & Growth Lab took samples collected from the fish to figure out its age. Those samples were otoliths (ear stones), which are calcium carbonate structures located directly behind the brain of the fishes that gives an estimate of how old a fish is.
FWC Fish and Wildlife Research Institute wrote on Facebook, “Estimated the age of this fish at 50 years old, making this the oldest sample collected for our ageing program. Acquiring the otolith from this fish was extremely valuable as samples from larger and older fish are rare.”