Cromileptes altivelis – Humpback Grouper
We have been there several times with ONG, but Jan and I also went separately once to study the fish even better and to collect photo material for our magazine.
When you enter, you see a beautiful large seawater aquarium. This contains, among other things, the Cromileptes altives that went to great lengths for me. Now he can’t avoid it anymore. First some photos and then find the information so that I can dedicate an article to this fish.
First of all, I would like to know where and how Cromileptes altives, also known as Epinephelus altivelis or Serranus altivelis, lives in nature.
I already knew that it is a ray-finned fish species from the Grouper family (Serranidae) and I thought we encountered it in Malaysia at the fish exporter. So I first looked in that direction and indeed this fish lives in the Indian Ocean but also in the Pacific Ocean. Besides the sea waters around Malaysia, they are also found in Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Vietnam and Australia.
Description
The Humpback Grouper is a medium-sized fish that can grow up to 70 cm in size. Its specific body shape ensures that it is not easily confused with other large fish. The body is somewhat flat and is relatively high. This stocky and strange visual effect is accentuated by the specific profile with the elongated snout. All this gives him a somewhat hunchbacked appearance.
The young have a white background with round black spots and swim continuously with their heads down. The adults have dark beige or gray spots and small black dots all over the body.
Gender change
As often happens with sea fish, the Humpback Grouper are born female. The female who is the most dominant will transform into a male.
Character
In principle it is a peaceful fish, but in a smaller area such as an aquarium it is wise not to place two males together, it is better to keep a male with a number of females, as a harem. This predatory Grouper can also become aggressive if kept in an aquarium that is too small. The adult Cromileptes altivelis is only suitable for extremely large aquariums.
The Aquarium
The Humpback Grouper is reef safe, as they say. It will leave the corals alone. In the wild, Cromileptes altivelis use the reef as protection against (even larger) predators and also as a hunting ground for smaller fish.
Diet
He will eat anything that fits in his mouth and that he can swallow. In the wild it mainly feeds on shrimp, crustaceans and other fish. It is therefore recommended not to place it with small fish and crustaceans as these are seen as food in the aquarium.
It is better to only keep it with large, robust fish of at least the same size. The water in the aquarium should have a temperature between 24 and 28 °C and a specific gravity between 1.022 and 1.024.
Vulnerable in the wild
The Humpback Grouper is on the IUCN Red List as Vulnerable. The reason is that it is rare in any case, but is also frequently caught for both the aquarium trade and for consumption, as Cromileptes altivelis is unfortunately popularly eaten in some countries. Moreover, this fish also has to endure a lot due to the degradation of its habitat.
Nowadays there are nurseries for this fish, not to release them but to trade them for aquariums. So this does not lead to an increase in the natural population but does reduce the number of fish caught for this hobby.
Conclusion
It is a beautiful fish and when kept in the right conditions it can live to a considerable age.
Video
Author
Margie van der Heijden – OnsNatuurgenot.nl
Copyright images
Margie van der Heijden – OnsNatuurgenot.nl