Grouper

(Ephinephelus)
Taxonomic Classification

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Perciformes
Family: Serranidae
Groupers
 among the most popular species in the live reef food fish industry in the
Asia-Pacific region.

 fast growing, hardy, suitable for intensive culture,

 excellent characteristics for processing due to their unique culinary attributes

and scarcity.

 They are mostly is protogynous hermaphrodite, they mature only as females

and have the ability to change sex after sexual maturity.

 Some groupers are gonochoristic or a reproductive strategy with two distinct

sexes, which evolved independently in groupers at least five times. The
evolution of gonochorism is linked to group spawning high amounts of
habitat cover.
 Some species of groupers grow about a
kilogram per year and are generally adolescent
until they reach three kilograms, when they
become female.

 In 1997, the Asia-Pacific Region contributed

about 90% to the world for aquaculture
production w/ grouper at 15000 ton w/ China as
the biggest producer contributing 8000 tons
followed closely by Indonesia. Other countries
in the region commonly produced 1000-2000
tons annually in 1990-1997.
Status and trends
 Groupers have become one of the most important aquaculture and traded
commodities in the Asia-Pacific region. It is also an important fish in the
livelihoods of small and large-scale coastal fish farmers.

 Groupers are considered as a high-value species with a high potential for

contributing to the economic development of these countries. The
expanding trade in live groupers of various ages and stages, whether for
aquaculture or for seafood restaurants, has increased demand since 2006.

 Orange-spotted grouper, E. coioides is one of the few species among

farmed grouper species. The development of new faster-growing strains
through selective breeding techniques and use of Intensive cost-effective
recirculation systems are imperative to increase the production.
 Commonly cultured species
 The grouper, locally known as lapu-lapu, is a highly esteemed
food fish in the Philippines. It represents about 2% of total fish
catch in the country. The grouper is a preferred species by
small-scale fishermen and is commonly caught by hook and
line, gill-net, and bamboo fish trap.
 Groupers are widely distributed in the tropical and subtropical
coastal waters. They are of great economic value and form a
major component of the live reef fish trade in the tropics.
 Orange spotted grouper, green grouper
Epinephelus coioides (Hamilton)
 This fish measures around 40 centimeters,
although 75 cm specimens have been obtained.
Its weight can reach up to 22.3 kilograms.

 Its coloration is reddish brown with dark spots

and bars and is the most abundant small
grouper in the northern Gulf of California. It is
located in waters of the continental shelf on
rocky bottoms between 30 meters to 120 meters
deep.

 Their diet is based on fish and crustaceans, for

example, blackberry crab, and studies have
shown that this specimen has the characteristic
solitary behavior of the mere species.
 Malabar rock cod
Epinephelus malabaricus (Bloch and Schneider)
 This grouper lives in diverse habitats,
such as lagoons, mangroves, coral and
rocky reefs, sandy and muddy bottom
areas between 2 and 150 meters deep.
On the other hand, juvenile specimens
prefer lagoons or brackish areas, which
is why it has been considered as a
freshwater grouper.
Moreover,
 Younger specimens have a series of wide and broken
vertical bands of darker shade across their bodies, but at
maturity they appear to become a darker uniform color.

 It has a color that ranges from light gray to light brown on

its skin, with a series of randomly scattered dark brown
spots, which increase in number with age, the body also
has a pattern with several brown diagonal stripes

 The Malabar Grouper can reach a length of up to 234 cm,

but the average size is usually around 100 cm.
 Brown marbled grouper, Epinephelus
fuscoguttatus (Forsskal)
 Also known as carpet cod, flowery cod, blotchy rock
cod is a medium-sized fish which grows up to 120
cm, but the average size mostly observed is 50 cm.

 Its body has a stocky and robust aspect, is

compressed laterally and has a sharp profile for the
head. The mouth is big and has a superior position
with many small teeth and canine in front.

 The brown-marbled grouper is carnivorous and its

diet consists mainly in fishes, crustaceans and
cephalopods. It is an ambush predator.
 This grouper is solitary, sedentary, it defends a well
defined territory, benthic and is nocturnal, with
activity maximal at sunrise and/or at sunset.

 It has a quite long life span for a fish, it can expect to

live until at least 40 years old.
 Dusky tail grouper
Epinephelus bleekeri (Vaillant)
 Occur on shallow banks, but is not known
from well-developed coral reefs and
adjacent soft substrate in depths of 30-
105 m). Also found in silty coastal reefs
and estuaries. Benthic In Hong Kong live
fish markets Usually taken by trawling in
30-45 m or by hand-lining over rocky
banks; not found from coral reefs).

 The brown color of the light-colored

lateral stripes on its head is more
pronounced than in other species. The
Dusky grouper feeds on mollusk
especially octopuses and crustaceans and
some small fish occasionally.
 Leopard coral trout, blue spotted seabass
Plectropomus leopardus (Lacepede)
 The leopard coral grouper has a body which is
elongate and robust, with the standard length
being 2.9 to 3.9 times the depth of the body.
 The leopard coral grouper is highly-valued as
a food fish and is sold in both the live and
chilled reef fish food trade, centered on Hong
Kong. The catching of live fish for export is
an important commercial fishery in the Asia-
Pacific region, currently they are primarily
sourced from Indonesia and the Philippines.
 Leopard coral groupers are largely piscivores
(fish-eating predators). Younger juvenile trout
mostly eat crustaceans, especially prawns,
which live on or near the reef bottom.
However, adults feed upon a variety of reef
fish.
 Barred-cheek coral trout, spotted coral trout
Plectropomus maculatus (Bloch)
 A red, pale greyish or olive to dark
brown coral trout with small blue
spots on the head, body and fins.
Some spots on the head and anterior
body are horizontally elongate
forming dashes. Small juveniles are
greyish-brown above with scattered
black spots, a broad white
midlateral stripe, and a dark stripe
below from the snout to the lower
part of the tail.
 Maximum length is 125 cm.
 High-finned grouper, Cromileptis altivelis
(Valenciennes)
 also known as hump back grouper, barramundi
cod, polka-dot grouper

 Adult high fin Grouper are light brown with

dark brown spots. Juveniles are darker overall
and have additional white blotches on the head,
body and fins. The species occurs tropical
marine waters of the Western Pacific.

 There are two large dark areas on the upper

sides extending into the dorsal fins. These are
both preceded by a large whitish area.

 Juveniles have black and white areas on the

upper sides like the adults, however they are
darker overall and have additional white
blotches on the head, body and fins
Biological Characteristics
 Anatomy
Groupers are teleots , typically having a
stout body and large mouth. They are not
built for long-distance, fast swimming.
They can be quite large and lengths over
a meter and weights up to 100kg.

They habitually eat fish, octopuses and

crustaceans. Some species prefer to
ambush their prey, while other species are
active predators.
Their mouths and gills form a powerful
sucking system that sucks their prey in from a
distance.

They also used their mouths to dig into sand

to for their shelters under big rocks, jetting it
out through their gills.

Their gill muscles are so powerful, it is nearly

impossible to pull them out of a cave if they
feel attack and extend those muscles to lock
themselves in.
Criteria for Broodstock Selection
-Broodstock or broodfish are a group of mature
individuals used in aquaculture for breeding purposes.

 Normal body shape and colour.

 Absence of skeletal deformities
 Overall healthy status i.e., absence of large wounds,
hemorrages, infections, and parasites.
 Normal behavior, i.e., good response to food
distribution
 Best growth and food conversion rate within this age
group.
Production Cycle of Orange Spotted Grouper
Production systems

Seed supply

Brooders of E. coioides are stocked in separate

50 m3 tanks. Most of the brooders are collected from
the wild and reared for 1 to 7 years using seawater at a
constant temperature of 27-28 °C and 45 ‰, following
standard culture methods. The fish are fed with frozen
sardines, mackerels, cuttlefish, squids and top-shell
clams because these foods have high contents of
cholesterol, phospholipids and polyunsaturated fatty
acids. Artificial diets containing hormones used for
maturation or sex-reversal are also used.
Natural Spawning
• Occurs at night 9pm-3pm for 3-6 nights each month during
the new moon phase. However, studies shown that they
spawn throughout the year.
• 0.8-0.6 M eggs each night.
• Daily floating egg rates varied from 5.6 to 69.6 per cent
(average 36.8 percent). Spawning relates to lunar rhythm: the
quantity of spawned eggs is high about one week before and
after the new moon, and is low or none near the full moon.
Under ambient temperatures, spawning occurs in April and
May.
• Cease to spawn when temperature drops around 25 degrees
celsius.
Induced spawning

Whenever brooders do not spawn naturally,

mature females and males are selected from
broodstock tanks and injected with Human
Chorionic Gonadotropin (HCG) After the
injection, the fish are stocked at 28.0-28.5 °C in a
50 m3 tank. Brooders usually start spawning
between 36 hrs and 48 hours after injection. There
were over ten grouper breeder farms raising >10
000 spawners in Southern Taiwan P.C. in 1998;
these were producing 40 billion eggs/yr.
Operation and management for grouper
culture is straight forward.
 It involves the nursing of 2-3 cm (1 inch) wild-
caught fry either in tanks or hapa nets until it
reaches 6 cm (2 inches). At this stage, the
fingerlings are transferred to earthen ponds or net
cages for the grow-out phase.

Nursery Phase in Tanks

 Hapa nets are preferred because they are more

economical and easy to handle during size-grading.

 Stocking density
Stock postlarvae (less than 2.5cm) in hapa nets at
1,000-2000 individuals per net.
 Nursery phase in tanks
Nursery tanks vary from 2-10
tons

 Stocking density
-stocking density of less than
2.5cm fry varies from 50-200
individual/m^3. Higher density
greater than 1,000m^3 can be
used in flow through or
recirculating water systems.
 Grow-out phase in earthen
ponds

 Stocking Density of grouper

fingerling( about 6cm TL)
5000-10000/ha.
 Grouper seed

Post larvae – transparent, brownish or reddish

unscaled fish 1.0-2.5 cm (< an inch) in size and
sometimes called “tinies.” They are collectively
referred to as seed or fry.

Metamorphosed fry – scaled fish, darker than post

larvae, measure 2.5-7.5 cm (1-3 inch), with a
single continuous dorsal fin, elongated second
dorsal spine and pelvic spines.

Fingerlings – usually 7.5-12.5 cm (3-5 inch), color

and appearance starting to follow the market
sized stage. Size is often measured from tip of
the mouth to the end of caudal fin.
Peak season of grouper collection may vary from place to
place.
 Environmental Requirement
When cultured…

 protected from strong winds, waves,

currents, typhoons, floods, and
siltation.
 free from possible source of pollution
like industrial, agricultural, and
domestic wastes.
 accessible but secure from vandals
and poachers.
 Climate and weather in the area are
important considerations as they
affect water quality. The area should
not be subject to abrupt changes in
temperature and salinity.
Water Quality Requirement

Australian Center for

International Agricultural
Research, 2012
 Culture Practices
 Cage culture
To avoid damage caused by rough seas, grouper
cages are set up in calm waters, e.g., in a bay, behind an
island or in a river close to the sea. Cage site is usually
accessible, a caretaker’s house is built beside the cage.
Water depth in the site is at least 3 m, but the technique
of cage construction (see below) restricts the maximum
depth to about 5 m.

Floating net cages

The cages should be set up in calm waters
(sheltered lagoons, coves, inlet, bay, or behind an
island) with adequate water flow. An access and space
for navigation should be provided.
Water should be more than 3 meters deep at lowest low
tide (ideally, 15-30 meters). The site should have good
water exchange or flushing and, preferably, an
unrestricted deep water flow. The current speed should
 Pond culture

The basic construction of the grouper

pond is similar to milkfish/prawn ponds;
the latter can be converted for grouper use.
However, a site with salinity of more than
10 parts per thousand (ppt) is preferred.
Adequate supply of good water quality is
needed for grouper culture. The required
water depth of the pond is 0.8 m, although
a depth of 1.0-1.5 m is more ideal.

Brackish water ponds

 is an ideal pond site. The site must have

good water and soil quality.

References
 Australian Center for International
Agricultural Research

 SEAFDEC , AQD Iloilo, Philippines