It is covered by small brown hexagons with pale interspaces disposed on irregular darker diagonal bands and forming a network (hence the common name of the species).

The genus Epinephelus has the ability to change sexes, more specifically they are protogynous hermaphrodites what means females can turn into males at one point in their life.

[5] Females turn into males when they reach a length of approximately 20 cm, thus the size advantage model for sequential hermaphroditism applies in the case of the honeycomb grouper.

[5] The honeycomb grouper was first formally described in 1793 by the German naturalist Marcus Elieser Bloch (1723–1799) with the type locality given as "Japan Sea" which is thought to probably mean the Indian Ocean.

[6] This species is one of a group of related members of the genus Epinephelus known as "reticulated coral groupers" along with E. bilobatus, E. faveatus, E. hexagonatus, E. macrospilos, E. maculatus, E. melanostigma, E. quoyanus and E. spilotoceps.