The Tiger Grouper live in the Western Atlantic from southern Florida and the Gulf of Mexico, South to Brazil. It is uncommon in the northern gulf of Mexico excpept for being quite numerous at the Flower Banks off the Louisiana coast.
Identification of this grouper can be easy if you know what to look for. No other grouper in the area has the same pattern of narrow pale diagonal lines.
The fish is believed to be a protogynous hermaphrodite, with all the smaller fish being females and the large specimens being male.