The distinctive characteristics of the brown-marbled grouper are: a small black saddle on the top of the caudal peduncle, when observed on the side a notch above the eyes, and the front head is clearly visible, its body is quite thick from the front of the dorsal fin to the bottom of the fish below the pectoral fins.

[5] This grouper is solitary and sedentary; it defends a well-defined territory, benthic, and is nocturnal, with activity maximal at sunrise and/or at sunset.

Especially during mating periods at specific times and places, the brown-marbled grouper forms spawning aggregations which are easy and attractive targets for fishermen.

It will have the same result on over-fishing female breeders that are highly fertile and would not be able to actively contribute to maintaining the proportion of young in the population.

As ciguatera toxin is common in brown-marbled groupers' flesh, this limits fishing of this species in some geographic areas.

Over the last few years, some protective measures and/or sustainable fishing methods have been introduced by many states where spawning aggregations are known, for example, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Australia, Malaysia, Solomon Islands, and Palau.