Chromileptes
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The humpback grouper (''Cromileptes altivelis''), also known as the panther grouper, (in
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
) barramundi cod, (in the
Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...
, in Tagalog) lapu-lapung senorita, (in the
Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...
, in Bisayan) miro-miro, (in Japan) sarasa-hata, (in
India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
) kalava, and many other local names, is a species of marine
ray-finned fish Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fish or actinopterygians, is a class of bony fish that comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species. They are so called because of their lightly built fins made of webbings of sk ...
. Specifically, it is a
grouper Groupers are a diverse group of marine ray-finned fish in the family Epinephelidae, in the order Perciformes. Groupers were long considered a subfamily of the seabasses in Serranidae, but are now treated as distinct. Not all members of this f ...
from the
subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end botanical subfamily names with "-oideae", and zo ...
Epinephelinae Groupers are a diverse group of marine Actinopterygii, ray-finned fish in the family Epinephelidae, in the order Perciformes. Groupers were long considered a subfamily of the seabasses in Serranidae, but are now treated as distinct. Not all m ...
, which is in the
family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...
Serranidae Serranidae is a large family (biology), family of fishes belonging to the order Perciformes. The family contains about 450 species in 65 genera, including the sea basses and the groupers (subfamily Epinephelinae). Although many species are small, ...
, which also includes the anthias and sea basses. It occurs in the
Western Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...
.


Systematics

The humpback grouper was first formally described as ''Serranus altivelis'' in 1828 by the French
zoologist Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the structure, embryology, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct, and how they interact with their ecosystems. Zoology is one ...
Achille Valenciennes Achille Valenciennes (9 August 1794 – 13 April 1865) was a French zoology, zoologist. Valenciennes was born in Paris, and studied under Georges Cuvier. His study of parasitic worms in humans made an important contribution to the study of parasi ...
(1794–1865) with the type locality given as
Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...
. In 1839, the English
naturalist Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...
William Swainson William Swainson Fellow of the Linnean Society, FLS, Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (8 October 1789 – 6 December 1855), was an English ornithologist, Malacology, malacologist, Conchology, conchologist, entomologist and artist. Life Swains ...
(1789–1855) placed it in the
subgenus In biology, a subgenus ( subgenera) is a taxonomic rank directly below genus. In the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, a subgeneric name can be used independently or included in a species name, in parentheses, placed between the ge ...
''Chromileptes'', which was later created as a
monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unisp ...
genus. Swainson spelt the genus as ''Chromileptes'' although
Fishbase FishBase is a global species database of fish species (specifically finfish). It is the largest and most extensively accessed online database on adult finfish on the web.
spells it as ''Cromileptes''. Recent molecular analyses based on five genes show that ''Cromileptes altivelis'' is included in the same
clade In biology, a clade (), also known as a Monophyly, monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach t ...
as species of ''
Epinephelus ''Epinephelus'' is a genus of marine ray-finned fish, groupers from the subfamily Epinephelinae, part of the family Serranidae, which also includes the anthias and sea basses. They are predatory fish, largely associated with reefs and are fo ...
''. Consequently, the species should be included in ''Epinephelus'' as ''Epinephelus altivelis''.


Genetics

Genetic research has revealed the species to have missing genes relating to immunity and the MAPK signal pathway, which may affect the species' disease resistance and growth traits. A hybrid grouper has been formed between this species and a closely related grouper, the giant grouper (''E. lanceolatus)''. The hybrid had 1.6x faster growth rate than the humpback grouper, 4.7% increased meat yield, yet was more morphologically similar to ''E. lanceolatus''.


Biology and ecology


Description

The humpback grouper is a medium-sized
fish A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic animal, aquatic, Anamniotes, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fish fin, fins and craniate, a hard skull, but lacking limb (anatomy), limbs with digit (anatomy), digits. Fish can ...
which grows up to . Its particular body shape makes this grouper difficult to confuse with other
fish A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic animal, aquatic, Anamniotes, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fish fin, fins and craniate, a hard skull, but lacking limb (anatomy), limbs with digit (anatomy), digits. Fish can ...
es. Its body is compressed laterally, is relatively high, and has a unique head profile compared to other groupers. The head is depressed anteriorly and elevated posteriorly, with a sharp rise at the nape. This stocky and strange visual effect gives it the unique humpbacked appearance. In addition, there has been genetic evidence of increased activity in this fish's frontal
osteoblast Osteoblasts (from the Greek combining forms for " bone", ὀστέο-, ''osteo-'' and βλαστάνω, ''blastanō'' "germinate") are cells with a single nucleus that synthesize bone. However, in the process of bone formation, osteoblasts fu ...
s. This may be the genetic basis for the change of ''C. altivelpis frontal bone to the sunken, 'humpback,' head. Relating to its coloration, the young are white with round black spots. The adults have a body colouration with variances of grey and beige, with darker blotches variable in size on the body. Small black spots cover the whole body. In comparison, juveniles have fewer of these black spots than adults, but the spots can be larger, or as large, as their eyes. Furthermore, their coloration has been observed to change with a drop in pH. In terms of its fins, the grouper has rounded pectoral and caudal fins, aiding in stability. Their pectoral fins range between 17 and 18 rays, with the middle rays being the longest. They also have a long dorsal fin that originates from their opercle, and runs all the way to its caudal fin. The dorsal fin consists of around 10 spines and 17–19 rays, which greatly aids in stability against turning. The anal fin, which is about half in length of the dorsal fin, consists of around 3 spines, and 9–10 rays. Their brush-like villiform teeth are adequate for eating smaller fish, and have smooth body scales.


Distribution and habitat

It is widely distributed throughout the
tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where the Sun can never be directly overhead. This is because of Earth's ax ...
waters of the central Indo-West Pacific region. The humpback grouper lives in clear waters from lagoons and seaward reefs with a preference for dead or silty areas. They are found in a range of depth from , but usually found at depths less than 10 m (32.8 ft). The humpback fish has a preferendum temperature of 24.5 C, similar to other cool, temperate, freshwater fishes.


Non-native distribution

In Florida, the grouper was first recorded to be observed in 1984, with the last recorded observation in 2012. Throughout Florida, it has been spotted in
Tampa Bay Tampa Bay is a large natural harbor and shallow estuary connected to the Gulf of Mexico on the west-central coast of Florida, comprising Hillsborough Bay, McKay Bay, Old Tampa Bay, Middle Tampa Bay, and Lower Tampa Bay. The largest freshwater i ...
, Pompano Beach, and West Beach. In 2012, a single individual was speared near Key Largo, raising fears that it could become invasive, similar to the
lionfish ''Pterois'' is a genus of venomous fish, venomous marine fish, commonly known as the lionfish, native to the Indo-Pacific. It is characterized by conspicuous aposematism, warning coloration with red or black bands and ostentatious dorsal fins tip ...
. This was also the largest species caught with a size of 78 cm, and weight of 15 lbs (6.8 kg). Although there are fears of the humpback grouper becoming invasive in North America, there remains no current breeding populations within the western Atlantic as of 2013. Despite this, researchers have pointed out Florida towns
Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a Jupiter mass, mass more than 2.5 times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined a ...
and Vero Beach as likely spots for this species to establish. The humpback grouper has a short history of being introduced in
Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...
, being first observed in 1991. It has since been
extirpated Local extinction, also extirpation, is the termination of a species (or other taxon) in a chosen geographic area of study, though it still exists elsewhere. Local extinctions are contrasted with global extinctions. Local extinctions mark a chan ...
, with the last observation in 2005. There has been one recording of the humpback grouper spotted in
Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...
.


Diet

The diet of this grouper is based on small
fish A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic animal, aquatic, Anamniotes, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fish fin, fins and craniate, a hard skull, but lacking limb (anatomy), limbs with digit (anatomy), digits. Fish can ...
es and
crustacean Crustaceans (from Latin meaning: "those with shells" or "crusted ones") are invertebrate animals that constitute one group of arthropods that are traditionally a part of the subphylum Crustacea (), a large, diverse group of mainly aquatic arthrop ...
s, such as
krill Krill ''(Euphausiids)'' (: krill) are small and exclusively marine crustaceans of the order (biology), order Euphausiacea, found in all of the world's oceans. The name "krill" comes from the Norwegian language, Norwegian word ', meaning "small ...
,
shrimp A shrimp (: shrimp (American English, US) or shrimps (British English, UK)) is a crustacean with an elongated body and a primarily Aquatic locomotion, swimming mode of locomotion – typically Decapods belonging to the Caridea or Dendrobranchi ...
,
squid A squid (: squid) is a mollusc with an elongated soft body, large eyes, eight cephalopod limb, arms, and two tentacles in the orders Myopsida, Oegopsida, and Bathyteuthida (though many other molluscs within the broader Neocoleoidea are also ...
s, and
clam Clam is a common name for several kinds of bivalve mollusc. The word is often applied only to those that are deemed edible and live as infauna, spending most of their lives halfway buried in the sand of the sea floor or riverbeds. Clams h ...
s. In human care, they are commonly fed fresh or dried fish. Like the other members of its
family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...
, the humpback grouper is
demersal The demersal zone is the part of the sea or ocean (or deep lake) consisting of the part of the water column near to (and significantly affected by) the seabed and the benthos. The demersal zone is just above the benthic zone and forms a layer o ...
, solitary (except during mating periods), defends a territory, and is an
ambush predator Ambush predators or sit-and-wait predators are carnivorous animals that capture their prey via stealth, luring or by (typically instinctive) strategies utilizing an element of surprise. Unlike pursuit predators, who chase to capture prey u ...
. Its feeding activity is maximal at sunrise and/or at sunset. Because of their carnivorous diet, ''C. altivepis'' has been commonly blamed for
Ciguatera poisoning Ciguatera fish poisoning (CFP), also known as ciguatera, is a foodborne illness caused by eating tropical reef fish contaminated with ciguatoxins. Such individual fish are said to be ciguatoxic. Symptoms may include diarrhea, vomiting, numbness, ...
throughout their native and non-nonnative distribution.


Disease

With live fish markets potentially acting as a transmitter of disease, this species has been commonly blamed for ciguatera fish poisoning cases. Ciguatera fish poisoning comes from consuming a fish with
ciguatoxin image:ciguatoxin.svg, 300px, class=skin-invert-image, Chemical structure of the ciguatoxin CTX1B Ciguatoxins are a class of toxic Polycyclic compound, polycyclic polyethers found in fish that cause ciguatera. There are several different chemi ...
s, and the humpback grouper, amongst many other predatory fish, can easily accumulate ciguatoxins. Because of this, ciguatera 'hotspots' surrounding these markets have been a concern for human health. The humpback grouper is also known to be able to carry many pathogens, including
Hirudinea Leeches are segmented parasitic or predatory worms that comprise the subclass Hirudinea within the phylum Annelida. They are closely related to the oligochaetes, which include the earthworm, and like them have soft, muscular segmented bo ...
,
Pasteurella __NOTOC__ ''Pasteurella'' is a genus of Gram-negative, facultatively anaerobic bacteria. ''Pasteurella'' species are non motile and pleomorphic, and often exhibit bipolar staining ("safety pin" appearance). Most species are catalase- and oxidas ...
, grouper iridoviruses, and more. Iridovirus is a leading cause of mortality in groupers kept in captivity, which causes lethargic swimming, darker body coloration,
anemia Anemia (also spelt anaemia in British English) is a blood disorder in which the blood has a reduced ability to carry oxygen. This can be due to a lower than normal number of red blood cells, a reduction in the amount of hemoglobin availabl ...
, and more.


Life cycle and behaviour

This species is a protogynous hermaphrodite; in other words, all individuals are born female, with the ability to transform to males as they grow older. Female humpback groupers start transitioning to males as early as 3 years. By the age of 9, most humpback groupers are male. Typically, only the most dominant, mature females undergo this transformation in the absence of a dominant male. Although primarily solitary, they are also known to swim in pairs, or sometimes in groups of 3–6. The purpose of these groups is unknown. Compared to other closely related groupers, the humpback grouper has a slow growth rate, with female humpback groupers maturing around 1.5 years.
Cryopreservation Cryopreservation or cryoconservation is a process where biological material - cells, tissues, or organs - are frozen to preserve the material for an extended period of time. At low temperatures (typically or using liquid nitrogen) any cell ...
has been tested with these humpback grouper embryos, with the survival rate of 7.55% and maximum time of viability being 5 days. The humpback grouper's peak spawning time is between October and January, with a single spawn event lasting from 4 to 8 days.


Conservation

The humpback grouper has been given the
Data Deficient A data deficient (DD) species is one which has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as offering insufficient information for a proper assessment of conservation status to be made. This does not necessaril ...
status by the
IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...
. It is a highly valued food fish, especially in
Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...
where it is also overexploited. It is bred in
aquaculture Aquaculture (less commonly spelled aquiculture), also known as aquafarming, is the controlled cultivation ("farming") of aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans, mollusks, algae and other organisms of value such as aquatic plants (e.g. Nelu ...
, but there is no evidence that captive breeding has reduced the fishing pressure on wild populations. Despite this, it is suspected that the population has declined historically. Australia has put strong conservation measures in place for this species (no take species in
Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...
and possession limits in other states, e.g.
Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...
) but it is lacking protection elsewhere. Other potentially effective management techniques to preserve the humpback grouper would be implementing size limits, no-take areas, and increasing effort control.


Aquaculture

Although the mariculture of this species has been regarded to be in a primitive stage, the humpback grouper remains to be a popular fish in US aquariums, live fish markets throughout Asia, and aquaculture production mainly in
Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...
and
Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...
.


Live fish markets

The humpback grouper is a popular fish amongst live fish markets, mainly throughout Asia, but more so in
Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...
. Within the Hong Kong live fish markets, groupers made the majority of the sales in the 1990s. Hatchery-produced groupers are susceptible to having poorly functioning
swim bladder The swim bladder, gas bladder, fish maw, or air bladder is an internal gas-filled organ (anatomy), organ in bony fish that functions to modulate buoyancy, and thus allowing the fish to stay at desired water depth without having to maintain lift ...
s, causing juveniles to circle on the surface until death, with the mortality rate ranging from 20 to 30% from this condition.


Rearing

When collecting eggs from this species for aquaculture, buoyant eggs are selected, and are usually 0.80–0.83 mm in diameter. From the wild, juveniles are often chosen. For growth and raising, they are usually grown in coastal net cages in Southeast Asia. However, it has been found that floating net cages are poor for growth and health of the fish, yet optimal for production.Newly hatched humpback groupers are sensitive, and, because of this, handling during this period is taken with care. Larvae are stocked into dark culture tanks before hatching to reduce 'shock syndrome', which is a cause of mortality due to dramatic physical changes like water disturbances, or bright light. The culture tanks are also usually stocked with
microalgae Microalgae or microphytes are microscopic scale, microscopic algae invisible to the naked eye. They are phytoplankton typically found in freshwater and marine life, marine systems, living in both the water column and sediment. They are unicellul ...
(such as '' Nannochoropsis oculata'' or '' Tetraselmis sp.'') which functions as shade, but also provides food and nutrition. Cannibalism is also a major cause of mortality during later stages, which could be reduced by handling fish into similarly sized tanks, but handling could induce shock syndrome. In terms of feeding, there remains low interest to develop specialized food diets for the small humpback grouper market. Because of this, humpback groupers are often fed 'trash fish,' which are low-value,
bycatch Bycatch (or by-catch), in the fishing industry, is a fish or other marine species that is caught unintentionally while fishing for specific species or sizes of wildlife. Bycatch is either the wrong species, the wrong sex, or is undersized or juve ...
fish species. However, feeding juveniles with
copepod Copepods (; meaning 'oar-feet') are a group of small crustaceans found in nearly every freshwater and saltwater habitat (ecology), habitat. Some species are planktonic (living in the water column), some are benthos, benthic (living on the sedimen ...
nautili has shown some promise to increase growth rates.


Socioeconomic effects

Grouper aquaculture has remained popular throughout Southeast Asia because of the accessibility of materials. In
Bali Bali (English:; Balinese language, Balinese: ) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller o ...
, 'backyard' hatcheries contributed to economic development, with an increased profit compared to more traditional local agricultural paths such as coconut plantations. In the
Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...
, grouper aquaculture is profitable due to less capital investment compared to the common milkfish aquaculture. Despite this, production is likely to remain low. Because of the slow growing humpback groupers, farmers are likely to mainly focus on faster growth fish.


References


External links

*http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=218193 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Humpback Grouper Epinephelini Fish of Palau Fish described in 1828 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot