A new species of grouper, Epinephelus insularis is described based on 12 specimens (271.6–528.0 mm standard length: SL) from the western Pacific Ocean. The new species, previously confused with Epinephelus chlorostigma (Valenciennes in Cuvier and Valenciennes 1828), is distinguished from all congeners by the following combination of characters: dorsal-fin rays XI, 16 (rarely XI, 17); longitudinal scale series 114–132; total gill rakers 21–24; posterior margin of anal fin rounded; caudal fin truncate, its posterior margin with a narrow white line; head, body, and all fins with small polygonal brown spots (expanded on head and body undersurface) on a pale background, forming a reticulate pattern; and pectoral fin brownish. In addition, Serranus areolatus japonicus Temminck and Schlegel 1843, which has been regarded as a junior synonym of E. chlorostigma, is redescribed as a valid senior synonym of Serranus reevesii Richardson 1846 and Epinephelus tankahkeei Wu, Qu, Lin, Tang and Ding 2020. Epinephelus japonicus is characterized as follows: dorsal-fin rays XI, 17; longitudinal scale series 101–119; total gill rakers 23–26; posterior margin of anal fin rounded; caudal fin convex, without white lines; head, body (lateral surface only), dorsal, pelvic, anal, and caudal fins with small polygonal brown spots forming a pale reticulate pattern; and pectoral fin yellowish.

根据来自西太平洋的12个标本（271.6–528.0 mm标准长度：SL），描述了一种新的石斑鱼石斑鱼（Epinephelus insularis）。该新物种以前与斑节对虾（Epinephelus chlorostigma）混淆（Valviciennes in Cuvier and Valenciennes 1828），通过以下特征的组合与所有同类动物区分开：背鳍射线XI，16（很少见XI，17）; 纵向刻度系列114–132；g耙总数21–24；肛鳍后缘四舍五入；尾鳍截断，其后边缘有一条狭窄的白线；头，身体和所有鳍在浅色背景上具有小的多边形棕色斑点（在头和身体下表面扩展），形成网状图案；和胸鳍褐色。此外，Serranus areolatus japonicus Temminck和Schlegel 1843，被认为是E的初级同义词。chlorostigma，被重新描述为有效的高级同义词Serranus雉理查森1846和石斑鱼嘉庚吴，曲林，汤和丁2020石斑鱼刺参的特征如下：背鳍条XI，17; 纵向刻度系列101–119；g耙总数23–26；肛鳍后缘四舍五入；尾鳍凸，无白线；头，身体（仅侧面），背鳍，骨盆，肛门和尾鳍，带有小的多边形棕色斑点，形成淡淡的网状图案；和胸鳍淡黄。