Early Life History of Yellowfin Grouper (Mycteroperca venenosa) in Little Cayman, Cayman Islands

Early life history stages of fish have been shown to be sensitive to environmental changes. Given predicted changes in the coming century to the world’s tropical oceans, it is important to characterize how these changes will affect growth and survival of species with commercial and ecological importance. The Grouper Moon Project team has been conducting preliminary research on early life history of Yellowfin Grouper (Mycteroperca venenosa) with eggs and larvae collected from a Yellowfin Grouper spawning aggregation on Little Cayman, Cayman Islands, adjacent to the larger Nassau Grouper aggregation that is the primary focus of the Grouper Moon Project. Findings on Yellowfin Grouper growth and condition of eggs and larvae reared in varying temperature regimes was presented at the 2022 American Fisheries Society conference. From these baseline characterizations, we can inform future studies to better understand how a warming ocean will affect the species.