Record weights reach up to 100kg. Once thought of as groper but are only similar, they have a deeper body and usually found in deeper water. Bluish grey above, paler below with a silvery sheen; fins blackish brown. Juveniles have black blotches on head and body. Body tall, compressed. Big mouth with big head and a rough bony ridge across upper part of the gill cover.

Adults prefer to inhabit caves and shipwrecks. Juveniles congregate below floating objects. Usually solitary.

Feed on large crustaceans, cephalopods and benthic fishes.

Spawn in the summer.

A Treasury of New Zealand Fishes: Graham
Wheeler, A., 1992. A list of the common and scientific names of fishes of the British Isles. J. Fish Biol. 41(1):1-37.