The head and body have a pale brownish grey background colour, with the flanks and back covered with small red, orange or gold spots.

[2] The Hong Kong grouper is found in coral and rocky reefs down to depths of at least 55 metres (180 ft) while juveniles prefer shallower waters than the adults.

Around the Byeonsan Peninsula of the Republic of Korea spawning has been observed in late July and early August.

[4] The Hong Kong grouper was first formally described as Serranus akaara in 1842 by the Dutch zoologist Coenraad Jacob Temminck (1778-1858) and his student, the German ichthyologist Hermann Schlegel (1804-1884), with the type locality given as Nagasaki.

It is usually caught by hand-line over rock strata and the species is often marketed live to increase the price paid.

In China there are limits on the gear which can be used but in Hong Kong the fishing is largely unregulated, except a small no take zone where the species may actually be increasing.

Hatchery reared larvae are released in Japanese waters but there are no known conservation measures in other parts of its range.