What is this?

[oz_brett]

Caught just north of Sydney heads.

[bump73]

Going by everything but the colour i'd say blue groper. I've just never seen one that red before, the males are usually more brownish.

Ben

[hottyscotty]

probably transition period from female to male. the eyes are blue.

females are brown. males are blue.

Edited August 22, 2011 by hottyscotty

[aeb870]

It definitely does look like a blue groper but never seen that colour. Like you said, probably the transition phase maybe..

[gje]

Female blue groper. They will change sex (female to male)& colour (red/brown to blue) either with age or when a male leaves an area.

Cheers, Scoop

[oz_brett]

thanks for the help guys, Yep its certainly a blue groper once you all started talking different colous I looked it up in Wikipedia and got this.....

The thick bodied blue gropers have peg teeth, heavy scales, a large tail and thick lips. Juveniles are brown to green brown. Adult females are brown to reddish-brown. Each scale may have a darker red spot. The adult males have the bright blue colouring that give the fish their name. The blue can range from deep navy to cobalt blue, and there may also be darker or yellow-orange spots or lines around the eyes.

All blue gropers begin their life as females. As they mature, they go through an initial phase, in which they may be male or female, before developing their adult colouring and reaching the terminal phase. Eastern blue gropers have been known to grow to 1.2 metres (4 ft) in length and weights of 22 kilograms, although fish over 15 kg are rare. The western species is larger, reaching 1.6 m and 40 kg.

pretty much sums it up for me.

Cheers;

Brett