Grouper

{{Short description|Family of fishes}} {{Redirect|Garupa|the mobile game|BanG Dream! Girls Band Party!}} {{Other uses}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2025}} {{Automatic taxobox | image = Baltimore Aquarium - Mycteroperca microlepis - 05.jpg | image_caption = Gag grouper, ''Mycteroperca microlepis'' | taxon = Epinephelidae | authority = Bleeker, 1874<ref name = VDLEF>{{cite journal |author1=Richard van der Laan |author2=William N. Eschmeyer |author3=Ronald Fricke |name-list-style=amp |year=2014 |title=Family-group names of Recent fishes |url=https://biotaxa.org/Zootaxa/article/view/zootaxa.3882.1.1/10480 |journal=Zootaxa |volume=3882 |issue=2 |pages=001–230 |doi=10.11646/zootaxa.3882.1.1 |pmid=25543675 |doi-access=free }}</ref> | subdivision_ranks = Genera | subdivision = See text }}

'''Groupers''' are a diverse group of marine ray-finned fish in the family '''Epinephelidae''', in the order Perciformes.<ref name="CofFF">{{Cof family|family=Epinephelidae|access-date=22 April 2025 }}</ref>

Groupers were long considered a subfamily of the '''seabasses''' in Serranidae, but are now treated as distinct. Not all members of this family are called "'''groupers'''". The common name "grouper" is usually given to fish in one of two large genera: ''Epinephelus'' and ''Mycteroperca''. In addition, the species classified in the small genera ''Anyperidon'', ''Cromileptes'', ''Dermatolepis'', ''Graciela'', ''Saloptia'', and ''Triso'' are also called "groupers". Fish in the genus ''Plectropomus'' are referred to as "coral groupers". These genera are all classified in the subfamily Epiphelinae. However, some of the hamlets (genus ''Alphestes''), the hinds (genus ''Cephalopholis''), the lyretails (genus ''Variola''), and some other small genera (''Gonioplectrus'', ''Niphon'', ''Paranthias'') are also in this subfamily, and occasional species in other serranid genera have common names involving the word "grouper". Nonetheless, the word "grouper" on its own is usually taken as meaning the family Epinephelidae.

== Description == thumb|left|Anatomy of a grouper

Groupers are teleosts, typically having a stout body and a large mouth. They are not built for long-distance, fast swimming. They can be quite large: in length, over a meter. The largest is the Atlantic goliath grouper (''Epinephelus itajara'') which has been weighed at {{convert|399|kg|lb|abbr=off}} and a length of {{cvt|2.43|m|ftin|frac=2}},<ref name = DF>{{cite web |url=https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/discover-fish/species-profiles/epinephelus-itajara/ |title=Epinephelus itajara |work=Discover Fish |author=Robert H. Robins |access-date=8 June 2020 |publisher=Florida Museum }}</ref> though in such a large group, species vary considerably. They swallow prey rather than biting pieces off of them. They do not have many teeth on the edges of their jaws, but they have heavy crushing tooth plates inside the pharynx. They habitually eat fish, octopuses, and crustaceans. Some species prefer to ambush their prey, while others are active predators. Reports of fatal attacks on humans by the largest species, such as the giant grouper (''Epinephelus lanceolatus''), are unconfirmed.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lieske |first1=E. |last2=Myers |first2=R. |year=1999 |title=Coral Reef Fishes |publisher=Princeton University Press |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780691004815 |url-access=registration |edition=2 |isbn=0-691-02659-9 }}</ref> [[File:Barcelona Oceanarium (24445884225).jpg|thumb|Gold-blotch grouper opening its jaws]] Their mouths and gills form a powerful vacuum that pulls their prey in from a distance. They also use their mouths to dig into sand to form their shelters under big rocks, jetting it out through their gills.{{Citation needed|date=July 2021}}

Research indicates roving coralgroupers (''Plectropomus pessuliferus'') sometimes cooperate with giant morays in hunting.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Interspecific Communicative and Coordinated Hunting between Groupers and Giant Moray Eels in the Red Sea |year=2006 |publisher=Biology.plosjournals.org |doi=10.1371/journal.pbio.0040431 |last1=Bshary |first1=Redouan |last2=Hohner |first2=Andrea |last3=Ait-El-Djoudi |first3=Karim |last4=Fricke |first4=Hans |journal=PLOS Biology |volume=4 |issue=12 |pages=e431 |pmid=17147471 |pmc=1750927 |s2cid=14006488 |doi-access=free }}</ref> Groupers are also one of the only animals that eat invasive red lionfish.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://phys.org/news/2011-07-reveals-grouper-lionfish-invasion.html |title=Study reveals grouper can help control lionfish invasion |year=2011 |publisher=Biology.plosjournals.org }}</ref>

==Systematics==

=== Etymology === The word "grouper" is from the Portuguese name, ''garoupa'', which has been speculated to come from an indigenous South American language.<ref>{{cite web |publisher=Oxford English Dictionary |url=http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/81859 |title=s.v. (?) }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=grouper |title=Online Etymology Dictionary |publisher=Etymonline.com |access-date=11 September 2010 }}</ref> The family name Epinephelidae comes from the type genus ''Epinephelus'', which means "clouded over" in ancient Greek, referencing the cloudy membrane covering the eyes of most groupers that would have been known to European scientists at the time of description.<ref>{{Cite web |date=11 March 2021 |title=Order PERCIFORMES (part 5): Suborder SERRANOIDEI: Families EPINEPHELIDAE, LIOPROPOMATIDAE and GRAMMISTIDAE |url=https://etyfish.org/perciformes5/ |access-date=29 July 2025 |website=The ETYFish Project |language=en-US }}</ref>

In Australia, "groper" is used instead of "grouper" for several species, such as the Queensland grouper (''Epinephelus lanceolatus''). In New Zealand, "groper" refers to a type of wreckfish, ''Polyprion oxygeneios'', which goes by the name ''hapuka'' (from the Māori language {{lang|mi|hāpuku}}).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/coastal-fish/6/2 |title=Coastal fish – Hāpuku – Te Ara Encyclopedia of New Zealand |publisher=Teara.govt.nz |date=2 March 2009 |access-date=11 September 2010 }}</ref> In the Philippines, groupers are generally known as ''lapu-lapu'' in Luzon, while in the Visayas and Mindanao, they are known as ''pugapo''.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kohno |first1=Hiroshi |title=State of grouper (lapu-lapu) culture in the Philippines |journal=SEAFDEC Asian Aquaculture |date=1988 |volume=10 |issue=2 |pages=4–9 |url=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/77981077.pdf }}</ref><ref name="Eslao-Alix">{{cite news |last1=Eslao-Alix |first1=Louella |title=From Pugapo to Lapu-lapu |url=https://cebudailynews.inquirer.net/255075/from-pugapo-to-lapu-lapu |access-date=11 February 2021 |work=Cebu Daily News |date=1 September 2019 }}</ref> They are known as ''kerapu'' in both Indonesian and Malay. In the Middle East, the fish are known as ''hammour'', and are widely eaten, especially in the Persian Gulf region.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.uaeinteract.com/travel/localdishes.asp |title=Food and Drink – Local Dishes |publisher=UAE Interact |url-status=dead |access-date=12 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170705003439/http://uaeinteract.com/travel/localdishes.asp |archive-date=5 July 2017 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Carrington |first=Daisy |url=http://www.timeoutabudhabi.com/restaurants/features/5632-handling-hammour |title=Handling hammour |publisher=Time Out Abu Dhabi |date=19 January 2009 |access-date=12 August 2011 }}</ref> In Latin America, the fish is known as ''mero''.

In previous taxonomic treatments, the soapfishes of the Grammistini and Diploprionini were treated as tribes within the subfamily Epinephelinae.<ref name="Nelson5">{{cite book |author1=J. S. Nelson |url=https://sites.google.com/site/fotw5th/ |title=Fishes of the World |author2=T. C. Grande |author3=M. V. H. Wilson |publisher=Wiley |year=2016 |isbn=978-1-118-34233-6 |edition=5th |pages=446–448 |access-date=8 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190408194051/https://sites.google.com/site/fotw5th/ |archive-date=8 April 2019 |url-status=dead }}</ref> However, ''Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes'' presently treats these as distinct families.<ref name="CofFF" />

===Classification=== Based on Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes:<ref name="CofFF" /> {{Div col|colwidth=24em}} * Family '''Epinephelidae''' Bleeker, 1874 (groupers)<ref name="VDLEF" /> ** ''Aethaloperca'' Fowler, 1904 ** ''Alphestes'' Bloch & Schneider, 1801 ** ''Anyperodon'' Günther, 1859 ** ''Cephalopholis'' Bloch & Schneider, 1801 ** ''Chromileptes'' Swainson, 1839 ** ''Dermatolepis'' Gill, 1861 ** ''Epinephelus'' Bloch, 1793 ** ''Gonioplectrus'' Gill, 1862 ** ''Gracila'' Randall, 1964 ** ''Hyporthodus'' Gill, 1861 ** ''Mycteroperca'' Gill, 1862 ** ''Paranthias'' Guichenot, 1868 ** ''Plectropomus'' Pken, 1817 ** ''Saloptia'' J.L.B. Smith, 1964 ** ''Triso'' Randall, Johnson & Lowe, 1989 ** ''Variola'' Swainson, 1839 {{Div col end}}

== Reproduction == Groupers are mostly monandric, protogynous hermaphrodites, i.e., they mature only as females and can change sex after sexual maturity.<ref name="Erisman2009">Erisman, B. E., M. T. Craig, and P. A. Hastings. 2009. A phylogenetic test of the size-advantage model: Evolutionary changes in mating behavior influence the loss of sex change in a fish lineage. American Naturalist 174:83-99.</ref><ref name ="DeMartini">DeMartini, E. E., A. R. Everson and R. S. Nichols. 2011. Estimates of body sizes at maturation and sex change and the endemic Hawaiian grouper's spawning seasonality and sex ratio (''Hyporthodus queries'', f. Epinephelidae). Fishery Bulletin 109:123-134.</ref> Some species of groupers grow about a kilogram per year and are generally adolescents until they reach 3 kg when they become female. The largest males often control harems containing up to 15 females.<ref name="Erisman2009" /><ref name="Sadovy">Sadovy, Y. and P. L. Colin. 1995. Sexual development and sexuality in the Nassau grouper. Journal of Fish Biology 46:961-976.</ref> Groupers often pair spawn, which enables large males to competitively exclude smaller males from reproducing.<ref name="Erisman2009" /><ref name="Allsop">Allsop, D. J. and S. A. West. 2003. Constant relative age and size at sex change for sequentially hermaphroditic fish. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 16:921-929.</ref><ref name="Munoz">Munoz, R. C. and R. R. Warner. 2003. A new version of the size-advantage hypothesis for sex change: Incorporating sperm competition and size-fecundity skew. American Naturalist 161:749-761.</ref><ref name="Kuwamura">Kuwamura, T. 2004. Sex change in fishes: Its process and evolutionary mechanism. Zoological Science 21:1248-1248.</ref> As such, if a small female grouper were to change sex before it could control a harem as a male, its fitness would decrease.<ref name="Allsop" /><ref name="Munoz" /><ref name="Kuwamura" /> If no male is available, the largest female that can increase fitness by changing sex will do so.<ref name="Munoz" />

However, some groupers are gonochoristic.<ref name="Erisman2009" /> Gonochorism, or a reproductive strategy with two distinct sexes, has evolved independently in groupers at least five times.<ref name="Erisman2009" /> The evolution of gonochorism is linked to group spawning high amounts of habitat cover.<ref name="Erisman2009" /><ref name="Munoz" /><ref name="Erisman2008">Erisman, B. E., J. A. Rosales-Cassian and P. A. Hastings. 2008. There is evidence of gonochorism in a grouper, ''Mycteroperca rosacea'', from the Gulf of California, Mexico. Environmental Biology of Fishes 82:23-33.</ref> Both group spawning and habitat cover increase the likelihood of a smaller male reproducing in the presence of large males. The fitness of male groupers in environments where competitive exclusion of smaller males is impossible is correlated with sperm production and thus testicle size.<ref name="Sadovy" /><ref name=" Munoz" /><ref name="Molloy">Molloy, P. P., N. B. Goodwin, I. M. Cote, J. D. Reynolds, and M. J. G. Gage. 2007. Sperm competition and sex change: A comparative analysis across fishes. Evolution 61:640-652.</ref> Gonochoristic groupers have larger testes than protogynous groupers (10% of body mass compared to 1% of body mass), indicating the evolution of gonochorism increased male grouper fitness in environments where large males were unable to competitively exclude small males from reproducing.<ref name="Sadovy" />

== Parasites == [[File:Pseudorhabdosynochus morrhua.jpg|thumb|302x302px|''Pseudorhabdosynochus morrhua'', a monogenean parasite of the gills of comet groupers.]]

Like other fish, groupers harbor parasites, including digeneans,<ref>Cribb, T. H., Bray, R. A., Wright, T. & Pichelin, S. 2002: The trematodes of groupers (Serranidae: Epinephelinae): knowledge, nature, and evolution. Parasitology, 124, S23-S42.</ref> nematodes, cestodes, monogeneans, isopods, and copepods. A study conducted in New Caledonia has shown that coral reef-associated groupers have about 10 species of parasites per fish species.<ref>Justine, J.-L., Beveridge, I., Boxshall, G. A., Bray, R. A., Moravec, F., Trilles, J.-P. & Whittington, I. D. 2010: An annotated list of parasites (Isopoda, Copepoda, Monogenea, Digenea, Cestoda and Nematoda) collected in groupers (Serranidae, Epinephelinae) in New Caledonia emphasizes parasite biodiversity in coral reef fish. Folia Parasitologica, 57, 237–262. {{doi|10.14411/fp.2010.032}} [http://folia.paru.cas.cz/pdfs/showpdf.php?pdf=21848 PDF]</ref> Species of ''Pseudorhabdosynochus'', monogeneans of the family Diplectanidae are typical of and especially numerous on groupers.{{Citation needed|date=July 2021}}

== Modern use == thumb|Several grouper species at a fish market, in Malaysia Many groupers are important food fish; some are now farmed. Unlike most other fish species, which are chilled or frozen, groupers are usually sold alive in markets.<ref>{{cite web |title=Most consumers prefer to purchase live groupers in fish markets |url=http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/Groupers |access-date=29 April 2011 }}</ref> Many species are popular game fish for big-game fishing. Some species are small enough to be kept in aquaria, though even the small species are inclined to grow rapidly. {{Citation needed|date=May 2014}}

Groupers are commonly reported as a source of ciguatera fish poisoning.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Sadovy de Mitcheson |first1=Yvonne |last2=Craig |first2=Matthew T |last3=Bertoncini |first3=Athila A |last4=Carpenter |first4=Kent E |last5=Cheung |first5=William W L |last6=Choat |first6=John H |last7=Cornish |first7=Andrew S |last8=Fennessy |first8=Sean T |last9=Ferreira |first9=Beatrice P |last10=Heemstra |first10=Philip C |last11=Liu |first11=Min |last12=Myers |first12=Robert F |last13=Pollard |first13=David A |last14=Rhodes |first14=Kevin L |last15=Rocha |first15=Luiz A |last16=Russell |first16=Barry C |last17=Samoilys |first17=Melita A |last18=Sanciangco |first18=Jonnell |title=Fishing groupers towards extinction: a global assessment of threats and extinction risks in a billion dollar fishery: Fishing groupers to extinction |journal=Fish and Fisheries |date=June 2013 |volume=14 |issue=2 |pages=119–136 |doi=10.1111/j.1467-2979.2011.00455.x |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/236649827 |access-date=13 February 2023 }}</ref> DNA barcoding of grouper species might help control ciguatera fish poisoning, since fish are easily identified, even from meal remnants, with molecular tools.<ref>Schoelinck, C., Hinsinger, D. D., Dettaï, A., Cruaud, C. & Justine, J.-L. 2014: A phylogenetic re-analysis of groupers with applications for ciguatera fish poisoning. PLoS ONE, 9, e98198. {{doi|10.1371/journal.pone.0098198|doi-access=free }}</ref>

== Size == Malaysian newspaper ''The Star'' reported a {{cvt|180|kg|lb}} grouper being caught off the waters near Pulau Sembilan in the Strait of Malacca in January 2008.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/1/17/nation/20035627&sec=nation |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080508174733/http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=%2F2008%2F1%2F17%2Fnation%2F20035627&sec=nation |url-status=dead |archive-date=8 May 2008 |title=Whopper of a grouper bought for RM10,000 |work=The Star |location=Malaysia |date=17 January 2008 |access-date=11 September 2010 }}</ref> Shenzhen News in China reported that a {{cvt|1.8|m|ft|0}} grouper swallowed a {{cvt|1.0|m|ftin}} whitetip reef shark at the Fuzhou Sea World aquarium.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sznews.com/news/content/2006-03/30/content_70954.htm |title=海底"血案":巨型石斑鱼一口吞下白鳍鲨 |publisher=Sznews.com |date=30 March 2006 |access-date=11 September 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171012215753/http://www.sznews.com/news/content/2006-03/30/content_70954.htm |archive-date=12 October 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In September 2010, a Costa Rican newspaper reported a {{cvt|2.3|m|ftin|0}} grouper in Cieneguita, Limón. The weight of the fish was {{cvt|250|kg|lb}}, and it was lured using 1 kg of bait.<ref>{{cite web |title=Cayó el más mero en el Caribe |url=http://www.diarioextra.com/2010/setiembre/10/nacionales11.php |author=Diario La Extra 2010, Marvin Carvajal |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100913030836/http://www.diarioextra.com/2010/setiembre/10/nacionales11.php |archive-date=13 September 2010 }}</ref> In November 2013, a {{cvt|310|kg|lb}} grouper had been caught and sold to a hotel in Dongyuan, China.<ref>{{cite web |title=Photos: Fishermen catch wildly huge 686-pound fish, sell it to hotel |date=3 May 2022 |url=http://shanghaiist.com/2013/11/12/photos_a_683_pound_giant_grouper_ca.php }}</ref>

In August 2014, off Bonita Springs in Florida (USA), a big grouper took in one gulp a 4-foot shark that an angler had caught.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.chron.com/hunting-fishing/article/Gulf-grouper-swallows-4-foot-shark-in-a-single-5703444.php |title=Gulf grouper swallows 4 foot shark in a single bite |author=Heather Alexander, Houston Chronicle |date=21 August 2014 |work=Houston Chronicle }}</ref><ref>{{cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O37HI_AX9nY |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211113/O37HI_AX9nY |archive-date=13 November 2021 |url-status=live |title=Grouper eats 4ft shark in one bite |date=19 August 2014 |via=YouTube}}{{cbignore }}</ref>

== See also == * Dusky grouper

== References == {{Reflist}}

== External links == {{NIE Poster}} * [https://stoella.com/saltwater-fly-fishing/fly-fishing-for-grpuper The Ultimate Guide to Fly Fishing for Grouper] *ARKive – [https://web.archive.org/web/20070503084717/http://www.arkive.org/species/GES/fish/Cromileptes_altivelis/ images and movies of the humpback grouper ''(Chromileptes altivelis)''] *{{Commons category-inline|Epinephelinae}}

{{Grouper}} {{Commercial fish topics}} {{Seafood}} {{Meat|state=collapsed}} {{Taxonbar|from=Q5559352}} {{Authority control}}

Category:Epinephelinae Category:Serranidae Category:Commercial fish Category:Fish common names Category:Cuisine of the Southern United States Category:Taxa named by Pieter Bleeker