[4] The adults are pale brownish-grey in background colour marked with closely set small brown spots on the dorsal half of the head and body.

There is a white stripe running from the tip of the lower jaw along the top of the snout and head, and along the base of the dorsal fin.

Its distribution runs south along the coast of the United States from Cape Hatteras in North Carolina to the Bahamas, including Bermuda, and into the Gulf of Mexico, throughout the Caribbean Sea to Brazil.

In Brazil it is found from Maranhão to Santa Catarina, including the islands of Trindade and Fernando de Noronha.

[1] Mycteroperca interstitialis is mainly found over rocky or coral bottoms from the low water mark down to at least 55 metres (180 ft), although small and medium-sized fishes are frequently recorded in mangrove-lined lagoons.

[5] Mycteroperca interstitialiswas first formally described as Serranus interstitialis in 1860 by the Cuban zoologist Felipe Poey (1799-1891) with Cuba being given as the type locality.

[6] Mycteroperca interstitialis is an important species in the fisheries of Bermuda, the Gulf of Mexico, and throughout the Caribbean where it is caught with hook-and-line, traps, and spear.