Humpback grouper (Cromileptes altivelis) is a saltwater species recorded in Hong Kong, Taiwan. It is mainly found over reef, coral, at depths of 2–40 m. The main season in Hong Kong, Taiwan runs summer, autumn.
Scientific name: Cromileptes altivelis · Water: Saltwater · Season: Summer, Autumn
Size: up to 70 cm
The Humpback grouper has a concave forehead and a body covered in black polka dots, and lives on coral reefs of lagoons and seaward slopes, favouring dead coral and silty areas and entering tide pools. Its range is the western Pacific from southern Japan to Palau, Guam, New Caledonia and southern Queensland, and the eastern Indian Ocean from the Nicobar Islands to Broome in Western Australia, while western Indian Ocean reports are mostly unsubstantiated apart from one from Kenya and the Hawaiian records probably come from released aquarium fish. Hong Kong calls it the mouse grouper, Taiwan the humpback. Slow-moving but wary and extremely slow-growing, it is in season in autumn and reaches about 70 cm total length, with a fishing vulnerability of 34 out of 100. It feeds on fish and crustaceans, and is among the most expensive groupers in the market, caught off Penghu, southern and eastern Taiwan by anglers who wait by reef crevices with live shrimp or small fish on bottom rigs. Sold live in Hong Kong markets.
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