Biology and ecology of the chinaman cod, Epinephelus rivulatus, at Ningaloo Reef, Western Australia

[Truncated] The chinaman cod, Epinephelus rivulatus, is a small-sized grouper (Serranidae: Epinephelinae) that occurs from the western Indian Ocean to the western Pacific. It is abundant within the lagoon of Ningaloo Reef, Western Australia, in areas dominated by limestone, sand and brown algae, and it is an important component of the Ningaloo recreational fishery. Concern over catch rates in this fishery prompted the present study into the biology and ecology of E. rivulatus at Ningaloo Reef, which was based on histological examination of gonads, analysis of otolith microstructure, and observations of individual fish within their natural environment. I also conducted a manipulative field experiment to determine the mechanisms controlling sex-change in E. rivulatus. This is the first time that unequivocal evidence of these mechanisms have been obtained for anepinepheline serranid, and the results are of ecological and managerial significance.