Grouper (Polyprion cernium) / Cherne (Polyprion cernium)

A fish from the marine fauna of Madeira, belonging to the Serranidae family, considered by the locals as one of the best-tasting fish that appear in the market. Once common, it tends to become scarce today due to the intensive fishing of it. In addition to being abundant, specimens weighing 25 kilograms were not uncommon, and there were, although rare, those weighing 50 kilograms and even more. It is the fishermen of Machico who are especially dedicated to this fishing, using the cherriola to be cast at great depths - from about 150 to 450 fathoms. It is exclusively in the abyssal region that the adults live: the young, however, roam in schools on the surface of the sea, often following a floating wooden beam or the remains of a shipwreck. This is why these young individuals are often called 'wood grouper', and are referred to as 'charnota' if they weigh less than about 5 kilograms. In Madeira, this fish is generally called grouper, a name given to another species on the coasts of Portugal, where the Madeiran grouper also exists, known there by the latter designation.