There's always a bigger fish - shark gets eaten

[packman]

SKIP to around 1:46 for the grouper's entrance---

[KS Toronado]

1. That is one big ugly fish! Glad I live on land.

[thucythucy]

2. I'm always grateful to be at the top of the food chain

and try to avoid places where I'm not!

[jaxexpat]

12. Until you realize that the colonies of microorganisms which thrive on your body will outlive you.

[thucythucy]

20. True, but i don't mind.

It's a sort of symbiosis. Live and let live and all that.

"Men have died, from time to time, and worms have eaten them, but not for love."
Wild Bill Shakespeare

[Ligyron]

3. That's the second video I've seen where a grouper eats a shark.

There's one where what's probably a Goliath grouper snags a shark who's attacking a fish being reeled in. Just a swirl a splash and he's gone.

I used to spearfish when I was younger and shot one of those groupers a bit over 80lbs who took me for quite a ride. There was a lot wrong with that whole scene since she damn near killed me until I got into a knife fight with her. Then barracudas showed up looking real interested before I got her aboard with help from boatmates who stood there with their mouths hanging open in stunned amazement before I started yelling at them to help.

The meat on her was delicious and plentiful, with flaky, fatty white flesh, but years later I found out what we were all calling "Jewfish" at the time usually have way too much mercury to be safe and often accumulate enough poisons from coral's nematocysts passed up the food chain to cause a painful nerve condition called cigaratella.

At least I was luckier than those poor grouper even though I'm mad as a hatter at times

[Sentath]

7. Ciguatera Fish Poisoning (Ciguatera Toxin)

https://www.emedicinehealth.com/wilderness_ciguatera_toxin/article_em.htm

Wow, ok.

[pfitz59]

23. One of my friends was poisoned by a large snapper he speared.

He was a pilot, and almost lost his career. I followed the guidelines and stuck with smaller fish.

[packman]

10. Interesting post

Are all grouper sandwiches (which is a favorite cafe item here) mercury filled?

[Best_man23]

11. Unless you live close to the ocean where Grouper is prevalent (Gulf of Mexico/Atlantic)

Chances are the grouper is farm-raised, or it could be Asian catfish.

https://oceana.org/blog/you%E2%80%99re-probably-eating-asian-catfish-without-knowing-it-should-you-be-worried

You can always ask where a restaurant or cafe sources its fish if you have concerns. The further I get from the ocean, the more hesitant I am to order wild caught ocean fish. I love grouper, but its tough to find here in Virginia. I always make a point to order it when I'm visiting family in Florida.

[Ligyron]

18. I shouldn't think so.

It's an accumulative process as I understand so in general, the older, and/or bigger a predator fish is, the more it theoretically consumes by gobbling down smaller prey fish over time. Most commercially available grouper (if it actually IS grouper) isn't that big nor have they lived that long. Same thing with bluefin tuna which is why the really big ones are sold to Japan since they apparently have no limits on mercury consumption last I heard. Which was admittedly a while ago.

Maybe Trump reversed that regulation too which would certainly explain some of his supporter's thought process or lack thereof.

[Sneederbunk]

4. Dog eat dog. Fish eat fish.

[Harker]

9. Wife eat fish. n/t

[cab67]

13. Fish eat dogfish.

Those are some form of dogfish, Squalus sp. If you look carefully, you can see the spine in front of the dorsal fin.

[MontanaMama]

5. I had no idea a grouper would

swallow a shark! Crazy.

I have immense respect for the different levels of our food chain. Being a human usually means being at the top of that chain. However, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve hiked in somewhere on a trail and then on my way out to the trailhead come across fresh mountain lion tracks following my tracks. This has happened dozens of times over the years. They are stealth opportunists and while lion attacks on humans is quite rare, it always sends a shiver up my spine.

[cab67]

14. Jacques Cousteau once claimed a grouper ate Jonah.

I'm not kidding. He thought the Biblical story referred not to a whale, but a really big grouper.

He did a TV special on it and everything. This was back in the day when Alan Landsburg was releasing all kinds of programs on ancient astronauts, along with the original version of Battlestar Galactica (which was a thinly veiled allegory of the Book of Mormon, believe it or not). And "In Search Of..." with Leonard Nimoy was still in production.

People believed all kinds of silly things back then. Not like now.

[Marcuse]

6. Grouper is tasty too.

[COL Mustard]

8. Those Look Like Spiny Dogfish

Yes, they're toward the top of the food chain, but as small sharks, not AT the top.

[cab67]

15. They're definitely Squalus.

Not sure they're Squalus acanthias, though - that's the standard spiny dogfish. The coloration looks a bit different from what I've seen.

(Bear in mind, my expertise is with crocodiles, not sharks.)

[COL Mustard]

16. Reminds Me Of My Favorite Line From Crocodile Dundee

“That’s not a knife. THIS...is a knife!”

[COL Mustard]

17. Also I Do Love Fried Grouper Sandwiches

Eom

[world wide wally]

21. I remember eating Grouper Burgers at Frenchy's in Clearwater.

[dameatball]

19. Growing up in FL it was not uncommon to reel in a big grouper and find out they were holding a bun

and some tartar sauce.

[COL Mustard]

22. They Are The Best Tasting Fish

Firm and white, ooh... I’m getting hungry now!