Epinephelus marginatus is a very large, oval-bodied and large-headed fish with a wide mouth which has a protruding lower jaw. The head and upper body are coloured dark reddish brown or greyish, usually with yellowish gold countershading on the ventral surfaces; the base colour is marked by a vertical series of irregular pale greenish yellow or silvery grey or whitish blotching which is normally rather conspicuous on the body and head; the black maxillary streak varies in its markedness; dark brown median fins; distal edges of the anal and caudal fins and also often pectoral fins have narrow white terminal bands; the pelvic fins are black towards their tips while the pectoral fins are dark reddish-brown or grey; the margin of spiny dorsal fin and basal part of the pectoral fins are often golden yellow in colour. There are eleven spines and 13–16 soft rays in the dorsal fin. This species can grow up to 150 cm in standard length but is more often 90 cm.
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