Epinephelus melanostigma Schultz in Schultz, Herald, Lachner, Welander & Woods 1953

Andréfouët, Serge, Chen, Wei-Jen, Kinch, Jeff, Mana, Ralph, Russell, Barry C., Tully, Dean & White, William T., 2019, Checklist of the marine and estuarine fishes of New Ireland Province, Papua New Guinea, western Pacific Ocean, with 810 new records, Zootaxa 4588 (1), pp. 1-360 : 118

Epinephelus melanostigma Schultz in Schultz, Herald, Lachner, Welander & Woods 1953 —Blackspot grouper

Status at New Ireland. New record, based on specimens observed by Jeff Kinch during CFMDP Survey at Kavieng fish market in 2004–2005; a video of a specimen taken off southeastern New Hanover , 6–21 m depth, St. KR 124, in 2014 (identified by Barry C. Russell).

Distribution and habitat. New Ireland: 1, 2.—General distribution: East Africa, Madagascar and western Mascarenes east to Line and Cook islands, north to Taiwan, south to Western Australia. Found in shallow coral reefs and lagoons, 0–7 m depth. Marine.