Panther Grouper (Cromileptes Altivelis)

Species Name : Cromileptes Altivelis 

Care Level : Moderate

Temperament : Aggressive

Color : Grey, Black 

Diet : Carnivore

Reef Compatible : Yes

Water Conditions : sg 1.020-1.025, 72-78° F, dKH 8-12, pH 8.1-8.4

Max. Size : 27 inches (70 cm)

Origin : Indo-Pacific

Family : Serranidae

Minimum Tank Size : 300 gallon

The Panther Grouper (Cromileptes Altivelis), Humpback Grouper, Barramundi Cod, or Polkadot Grouper is a saltwater fish from the Serranidae family.

Its particular body shape makes this grouper quite impossible to mix up with other fishes. Its body is compressed laterally and is relatively high. This stocky and strange visual effect is accented by its concave profile and its elongated snout which gives it a humpbacked appearance.

The young have a white background with round black spots and are continuously swimming head down. 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.

A newly introduced Panther Grouper can be quite shy, choosing to hide away behind rocks. Once they become more confident, they’ll spend most of their time slowly swimming around the middle levels of the tank, looking for a meal. It needs both enough space for swimming and plenty of stone caves and ledges in which to hide. That should tip you off that a really big tank is in order (300 gallons). Also, the panther grouper is a messy eater and copious waste producer, so efficient filtration, oversized protein skimming, and frequent water changes are a must. 

They are large predatory fish that are well able to defend themselves, so they should only be kept around large aggressive species. Adding other species of grouper will probably cause fights, so it is safest to avoid them. Will eat crustaceans and smaller fish but should leave the corals alone. But given that many keep invertebrates in their reef tanks it would not be considered reef tank safe.

Panther Groupers are carnivorous predators, so you need to be providing plenty of meaty options in their diet. They will eat most meaty type fish foods such as clams, squid, silversides, krill, and shrimp. Is they grow they get increasingly better at hunting prey. You could try using some live foods, but don’t give them freshwater feeder fish as they are not nutritious enough.