The pic below was on an US forum and there is some discussion with respect to the species and where it was caught.  The pic has been around for some years now and I believe at one time was published in some fishing magazine.  Looks very much like a bass grouper to me and I thought someone out there may have seen the pic and could shed some light with respect to the species and location of capture. 

polyprion americanus,

same as ours basically, otherwise called 'wreckfish'.

As far as I unnerstan, they are found widely across the pacific and atlantic, so probably widely over the world.

Same species or very similar. No doubt someone will know more or do some googling on 'wreckfish' or 'polyprion' polypriondae etc.

Googled:  'wreckfish'

The discussion re identity has thus far been split between Warsaw Groper and Wreckfish (polyprion americanus) and now Bass Grouper has been tossed into the mix.  Most acknowledge it is not a Warsaw Groper and many believe it is not a wreckfish - polyprion americanus either.  This has been supported by an ex long liner who targeted wreckfish in days gone by and he states that he has never seen a wreckfish that looks like the one pictured.  His comment is that wreckfish are longer and leaner rather than the short and fat shape of the bass grouper and that they always have the popped out eyes.

I came across the following web page which is interesting.

http://bigfishesoftheworld.blogspot.it/2012/04/wreckfish-polyprion-americanus.html

The top three photos are NZ captures and then the two below are the fish in question.  All fish are said to be wreckfish - polyprion americanus which is clearly incorrect.  I do agree however that the bottom two photos do have an American flavour about them.

he hāpuku, hapuka, or whapuku (Polyprion oxygeneios) is a  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wreckfish" rel="nofollow - wreckfish  of the family  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyprionidae" rel="nofollow - Polyprionidae , found around southern  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia" rel="nofollow - Australia ,  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chile" rel="nofollow - Chile ,  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tristan_da_Cunha" rel="nofollow - Tristan da Cunha , and  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Zealand" rel="nofollow - New Zealand  at depths between 30 and 800 m. Its length is between 60 and 180 cm, and it can weigh up to 100 kg. It is

here is the bass Tony Wong caught and i believe these guys are more switched on than most,

when we went to the Three Kings we caught them along side of each other in a dept of 60 to 80 mts

will put that pic up when i can find it for you.

i put these two pic to help people back then ID the difference,

quite easy when you see them side by side.

Distribution of Bass

And no it is not me but friends who live in tasmania

Hapuka have a protruding lower jaw.

Bass dont

the easiest is when they hit the deck the colours are quite a lot different,

Bass look like camouflage pants, they are covered in blotchy dark and light colours,

Hapuku are just grey, trouble is once dead they both look the same in colour,

then its about body shape Bass being fatter through the middle and Hapuku being thinner longer in shape. 

take note: this is how easy it is to tell the two fish apart when still alive,