Groupers (Pisces: Serranidae) of littoral environments of warm-temperate and tropical regions have expenenced intense fishery exploitation. Indicators of intense fishing include declines or change in abundance, size, spawning aggregations, and species composition. Surveys of grouper were carned out from 1995 to 1997 in the Flonda Keys, central Bahamas, southeastern Cuba, and the south- eastern Dorninican Republic to iüuminate Patterns in species composition, abundance, and size, along a gradient of relative fishing pressure. We assumed that the diversity, composition, density, and size would serve as indicators of fishing pressure in these areas. The study locations included 2 national parks and a national manne sanctuary, and were categonzed as: (1) intensively fished with little or no management for groupers (southeastern Cuba, southeastern Dorninican Republic), (2) intensively fished with numerous gear and effort regulations (Florida Keys), (3) lightiy fished with some gear and effort regulations (northern and southern Exuma Cays, Bahamas), and (4) a no-take marine fishery reserve closed to fishing (Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park, Bahamas). On each site 10 to 20 stnp tran- sects (20 m X 5 m) were surveyed in water of 1 to 20 m depth over rocky hard-bottom habitats for den- sity and size of grouper. Nine grouper species (2 Cephalophoiis spp., 4 Epinephelus spp., and 3 Myc- teroperca spp.) were documented among aii areas. Results show that areas where grouper fishing was relatively light had greater numbers of species, density, and biomass, particularly for larger species such as Nassau grouper E. striatus. Classification of groupers by 3 life history categories or growth strategies (small, intermediate, and large) indicated significant differences in density and biomass among study areas. The density and biomass of larger grouper species were significantiy greater in the no-take ma~e reserve and iightly fished areas than in the more intensively fished areas. In 3 of the areas charactenzed as intensively fished, one of which has several grouper fishery regulations, grouper density and biomass were dominated by smail, non-targeted species such as the graysby C. cruentatus and the coney C. fulva. This pattern may indicate a second-order effect of fishing, indicative of poten- tial changes in competition or predation. No-take marine fishery reserves represent a viable means to protect grouper resources, sirnphfying enforcement relative to complex catch and effort regulation, but also potentiaiiy aileviating the need to gather fishenes-dependent data.