Epinephelus labriformis Epinephelus labriformis Epinephelus labriformis, commonly called starry grouper or flag cabrilla among various other vernacular names, is a species of marine fish in the family Serranidae. The starry grouper is medium-sized fish which grows up to 60 cm. From: "The body of the starry grouper is robust and compressed. The end of the top jaw is exposed. The operculum edge has 3 flat spines; the pre-operculum is without spines. The caudal fin is rounded. The lateral line is complete, it ends at the caudal fin base and is smoothly arched. The scales are rough and relatively small." The starry grouper
Operculum (fish) over time. The fossil record of the threespine stickleback provide the ancestral shapes of the operculum bone. Overall, the operculum bone became more triangular in shape and thicker in size over time. Genes that are essential in the development of the opercular series is the Eda and Pitx1 genes.These genes are known to be a part of the development and loss of armor plates in gnathostomes. The Endothelin1 pathway is thought to be associated with the development of the operculum bone since it regulates dorsal-ventral patterning of the hyomandibular region. Mutations in Edn1-pathway in zebrafish are known to lead to