Nassau groupers are typically seen in what is considered their ‘barred’ color phase. This phase is their non-spawning phase and consists of brown and white bands with blotches along the sides of the grouper. Each Nassau grouper has a pattern that is unique to only him or her, sort of like our fingerprints. This unique pattern is being used by researchers to photo identify the fish using AI software.

The day of spawning, the team noticed several things on the morning dive that were clues that  the spawning might start later that evening. They noticed that the female groupers bellies were swollen with eggs, and many more of the fish were in the bi-color or dark phase. There were very few fish in the normal or barred color phase.