I'm sure that others know a whole lot more about that very beautiful
grouper. There is an educational software publisher, MECC, which put out a
simulation ODELL DOWN UNDER where one can assume the role of one of about
70 coral reef dwellers on Australia's Great Barrier Reef. Included is a 22
inch Variola louti. Even in the technically modest animation, it is a
stunning fish.
However the role of a middle sized reef predator is precarious. One the one
hand it always (according to the simulation, which is more fun to play
outside of biology class) has to look out for a wide variety of larger
predators and at the same time struggle to harvest enough food to prosper.
Fairly rapid starvation or being quickly consumed are the usual fates the
programmers seem to have allotted that fish.
The CD-ROM of that Game/Simulation was available for about 75 dollars a
couple of years ago. I picked it up six months later for $10 at an Office
Max store. Although gamers who want ever nastier violence and some graphics
purists will be disappointed, I enjoy it and have gained a whole new
appreciation for the complexities of life on the reef. I've wondered if that
program ever made it to Oz.
And it would still be wonderful among the shallots.
All the best!
Scott