Which animal is the Great Barrier Reef’s largest bony fish?

The Queensland grouper is the Great Barrier Reef’s largest bony fish.

Also called the giant grouper, it can reach a reported length of about 2.7 metres and a weight of several hundred kilograms. Its scientific name is Epinephelus lanceolatus. The species lives in tropical Indo-Pacific waters, including reef habitats around northern Australia.

Queensland groupers are ambush predators. They may occupy caves, reef edges, and other sheltered structures, feeding on fish, crustaceans, and smaller marine animals. Young individuals have different colour patterns from adults, and mature fish can become extremely large.

The whale shark is larger overall but is a cartilaginous fish, not a bony fish. The potato cod is another very large reef predator and is famous at the Cod Hole, but it is a different species. These distinctions make “largest bony fish” more precise than simply asking for the largest fish.