Coral trout

[Willy wombat]

One of the most colour species on the reef. May also be known to some of the more wealthy seafood consumers on the site?

[surenj]

Nice shot and what great colour on this one! Do they keep these in aquariums??

[gstark]

Do they keep these in aquariums??

I generally find them on a plate, with a small salad and some fries.

[xerubus]

Yum!

Nice colours.

[sirhc55]

The beauty of nature - thank God humans don’t follow the colour scheme of the coral trout

[surenj]

Do they keep these in aquariums??

I generally find them on a plate, with a small salad and some fries.

Didn't realise ...

[colin_12]

Nice colour and depth.
No need to be wealthy. Just have a friend with a boat that lives in the tropics.
It's been to long since I last wet a line.
Regards Colin

[MarkW]

Coral trout is nearly impossible to keep in the average aquaria - maybe if the tank is measured in thousands of litres you might see one but to get one in the average home setup - they won't live very long. I think you'd also have to get your fish stock from the ocean as I have never see one in captivity - other than the great barrier reef oceanarium in Townsville. BTW in 20 years of diving I don't think I've ever seen a fingerling of this species in barrier reef waters - possibly the juvenile is different from the adult that I might not have realised what I saw - but never seen a coral trout less than at least sandwich plate size.

These fish have got to be the best tasting fish in the world, but once frozen you might as well eat fish fingers. They have to be on a plate within 8 hours of being caught - this is why you wont seen them served anywhere else other than far north Qld. PS
If your going to get Ciguatera poisoning from eating contaminated reef fish then this is the most likely culprit. More people circum to Ciguatera from this species than any other reef fish.

[Willy wombat]

Thanks for the comments guys. The colours are fairly amazing. This one was not in an aquarium, it was an underwater photo taken on a reef in Indonesia. The trout was sitting near this coral waiting to be "cleaned" by the scavenger fish that remove parasites etc.