Panama Graysby: The Reef's Shy Cave-Dweller

Peek into a shaded reef crevice and you might meet a Panama graysby looking back at you — a small, retiring grouper that likes to keep a roof over its head. Here's how to spot it near Jacó, plus five fun facts.

Panama Graysby · Cephalopholis panamensis

How to spot the panama graysby near Jacó

Look into the shaded spots — caves, overhangs and gaps between boulders — where Panama graysby like to hover near cover. They're small groupers, olive to brownish, often with a yellowish cast around the tail. They rarely stray far from a bolt-hole.

5 fun facts about the panama graysby

• A homebody grouper. The Panama graysby sticks close to a favorite crevice, darting back to cover at the first sign of trouble.
• Dawn-and-dusk hunter. It does most of its feeding in the low light of early morning and evening, resting in the shade by day.
• Small for a grouper. It stays under a foot long, tiny compared with its giant grouper cousins.
• Suction feeding. Like all groupers, it flares its mouth to vacuum up small fish and shrimp in an instant.
• An Eastern Pacific native. It lives only along the Pacific coast of the Americas, a common resident of rocky reefs.

The panama graysby is just one of many characters down there. See the whole cast in our Snorkel Jaco fish directory, or read real guest photos and reviews on the Snorkel Jaco reviews.