Leopard grouper in Los Cabos

How to recognize it

Olive-brown to reddish, covered in dark leopard-like spots and blotches, with a large mouth and a squared-off tail. About 1% of fish are entirely golden yellow or orange.

Biology

The leopard grouper is endemic to Mexico. It lives mainly in the Gulf of California, reaches the Pacific side of Baja around Magdalena Bay and extends south to Jalisco. It stays on rocky reefs from 1 to 100 m deep all year.

Adults hunt sardines, anchovies and other small fish, plus krill; feeding peaks right after sunset. Females mature at about 27 cm, males slightly smaller, at 3 to 4 years. In spring they gather in spawning crowds of 100 to 800 fish on rocky points, spawning at dusk.

How it's caught in Los Cabos

Leopard grouper live on rocky reefs and points year-round, from Los Cabos up the East Cape and into the Gulf. Dawn and dusk are usually best.

Cast jerkbaits and swimbaits close to the rocks in shallow water, drop yo-yo jigs in deeper water, or fish live or cut bait on the bottom. Like every grouper, it heads for a hole the moment it's hooked, so the first few seconds decide the fight. Sport fishing is not allowed inside Cabo Pulmo National Park.

On the table

An excellent food fish with mild, white, flaky meat.

Rules, records & conservation

Don't confuse it with

"Cabrilla" is also used for the spotted cabrilla (Epinephelus analogus). The Gulf grouper or baya (Mycteroperca jordani) is a much bigger, endangered species.

How to tell Cabo’s groupers and snappers apart ›

Questions

By Max VargasTop Anglers, Cabo San Lucas · international judge at big game fishing world championships · reviewed October 2026

Sources

• Smithsonian Shorefishes of the Eastern Pacific
• Data Mares: perfil de especie, cabrilla sardinera
• Munguia-Vega et al. 2014, larval connectivity (PLOS ONE)
• Kiewek-Martínez et al. 2010, sex change in captivity
• Omont et al., xanthism in captivity (LAJAR)
• Aburto-Oropeza et al. 2011, Cabo Pulmo recovery (PLOS ONE)
• IGFA world records: leopard grouper
• NOM-017-PESC-1994, 2013 amendment (DOF)

Top illustration: Top Anglers. Photos: iNaturalist contributors, credited on each photo.