The serranid fish name Epinephelus cyanopodus (Richardson, 1846) is here applied to the grouper identified by most recent authors as Epinephelus hoedtii (Bleeker). Other synonyms are Serranus punctatissimus Günther, Homalogrystes luctuosus De Vis, Epinephelus suitonis Tanaka and Epinephelus kohleri Schultz. The species occurs in the western Pacific from southern Japan south to Queensland and east to the Marshall Islands and Gilbert Islands. The closely related E. flavocaeruleus Lacepède, 1802 is known only from the Indian Ocean. Junior synonyms include Holocentrus gymnosus Lacepède, Bodianus macrocephalus Lacepède, Serranus borbonicus Quoy & Gaimard and Perca flavapurpurea Bennett. We are able to distinguish E. cyanopodus and E. flavocaeruleus only by colour, the principal difference being the numerous dark spots on the former, which are lacking in the latter. Also, E. flavocaeruleus retains yellow on the fins and caudal peduncle in the adult form (the yellow disappearing only on very large adults).