Saddle Grouper

Cephalopholis sexmaculata has been recorded growing up to a total length of 50 centimetres (20 in). It has a body which is 2.5 to 3 times as long as it is deep using standard length. Larger fish, longer than 30 centimetres (12 in) show a concave dorsal profile of the head above the eyes. It has a rounded, finely serrated preopercle although these serrations are tiny in adult fish. The dorsal fin contains 9 spines and 14–16 soft rays while the rounded anal fin has 3 spines and 9 soft rays. The caudal fin is rounded and the tips of the pelvic fins normally fall short of the anus. There are between 49 and 54 scales in the lateral line.

The body has a background colour of orange-red, and there is a sparse scattering of small blue spots sparsely which becomes denser on the head and the dorsal, anal and caudal fins. There are also elongated blue spots and bars on the head, The body is marked with 4 dark vertical bars, although these are sometimes very faint, along the flanks. The bars merge on the back with blackish blotches found at the base of the dorsal fin and which extend onto the fin. A further 2 smaller dark bars are found on the caudal peduncle. The gaps between these bars is sometimes rather pale and pectoral fins are orange-red in colour.

Cephalopholis sexmaculata has an Indo-Pacific distribution. It occurs in the Red Sea to South Africa east to French Polynesia, as far north as the Ryukyu Islands in southern Japan and south to northern Australia. It has not been recorded from the Indian subcontinent, Gulf of Oman or the Persian Gulf.