A really old Florida fish is reeled from the sea — and it’s massive
A massive grouper was caught off the Florida coast. It’s the oldest of its species, biologist say.
A 350-pound Warsaw grouper was reeled in by hook-and-line on Dec. 29 off Southwest Florida in about 600 feet of water, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said.
Biologists from the commissions’ Wildlife Research Institute say that the fish is about 50 years old. That could make it the oldest Warsaw grouper in the institute’s aging program.
“Acquiring the otolith from this fish was extremely valuable as samples from larger and older fish are rare,” the institute said in a statement.
Warsaw is the only grouper with 10 dorsal spines, and adults usually swim in depths of 180 to 1,700 feet.
The Fish and Wildlife agency does not encourage fisherman to target Warsaw groupers since the status of their population in the Gulf is unknown.
This story was originally published January 13, 2020 at 10:08 AM.
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