Mouse Grouper (<i>Cromileptes altivelis</i>)

[harnsheng]

Mouse grouper (Cromileptes altivelis) are also known as humpback grouper or polka dot grouper. It has been a very popular food fish in Malaysia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, and etc and it is highly sought after.
This fish is also very popular among marine ornamental fish ethusiast. Due to the colouration, nice black spots on bright white body background, it is very attractive. Young fry have big and wide finnage and fine spots which tends to attract anyone who seen it. However, the availablitity of this fish seems to be on the low side, and it is expensive. Here in Malaysia, this fish could fetch Rm200 per kg as a live fish in seafood restaurant. My university are currently trying to get them to spawn again. They seems to stop breeding 2 years ago and we are trying to figure out what is affecting them. Hence, for now, we get our seeds from other breeder for experiment purposes. We do have quite a number of broodfish and we are trying to get them to spawn.

For their characteristic, i have some basic information to share:

They are very sensitive to salinity fluatuation and prefer high salinity of 35ppt. TEmperature should be constant all the day long and prefer a slightly cooler water.

High dissolved oxygen level (>5) are a must and pH should be around 7.5 to 8.5.

They required very clean water as they are very susceptible to diseases.

We are feeding them trash fish cut into small pieces as well as homemade pellets/semi moist feeds. Trash fish are sometimes injected with cod liver oil before feeding as a nutrition supplement.

Small fry have bright white colouration with nice black spots all over the body. The finnage are big and wide, making them looks elegant when swimming.


Well, that is some little information i can add on this fish and i will updated it from time from time when i can find more information about them. thanks for reading..[/i]

[William]

FYI this fish is known as Panther Grouper in the Aquarium trade.

[ecoreeftech]

My girlfriend is the one who wants to jump straight into breedng a fish that is not commonly bred in the hobby. I thought of trying clownfish first, just to get the hang of it, but no. So, here we are wanting to absorb as much information as possible in breeding groupers. We have a pair of V-Tail groupers. It looks like you have been successful at the Panthers. Can you tell the difference in sexes of either of these species? What kind of setup do you have for these fish? How large of a tank? I understand that most fish breed according to the lunar cycle. Do you have an artifical lighting system to simulate moonlight? Is there any adivce you could give us to get started? how old do the fish need to be before they will start breeding? Oh so many questions. Please let us know. Thanks.[/b]

[mpedersen]

Groupers may be hermamprodites, possibly even simultaenous hermaphrodites (a well known example of that is the Hamlets).

There's a LOT of information out there because groupers are foodfish...foodfish mariculture/aquaculture gets a lot more funding and research than ornamentals, and perhaps rightly so (feed the world vs. put something pretty in my fish tank..)

Matt

[harnsheng]

Grouper breeding, are not for those inexperience people. In my opinions, it is very hard and challenging. Particularly first few days of culture. i've experienced it myself in larvae rearing of Tiger Grouper (Epinephelus fuscoguttatus) but it is very hard for me. Almost all died within 4 days after hacthing. I guess it was the egg quality problems. However, most grouper hatchery does suffer this problem as well, high mortalities of larvae during initial larviculture.

[harnsheng]

well, attached here are some photos of Mouse grouper artificial breeding that we conducted in UMS HAtchery in Sabah.











feel free to visit my album, http://s266.photobucket.com/albums/ii25 ... ure_album/

[tumblestars]

Hi Guys,

FIrstly, this forum is fantastic and I look forward to being involved in some awesome topics! Thanks to Andy for helping with some initial login difficulties!

Im going to drag this topic from the grave in the hopes that in the last few years someone has had some experience, or at least some theories!

Here in Australia we call this species Barramundi Cod, they are a threatened species in the wild and the ONLY way we can get these in the aquarium industry is through aquaculture.

They are a beautiful fish, a lovely personality (My one- called Barry- sulks like a toddler if not givin his way!). This year I am working on breeding some Flame Angels which means the larval C. altivelis will probably eat a similar food.

What i need to know is what kind of brooding conditions, tank size etc would be needed, and any other information anyone may have

Thanks guys, hope to hear from you all soon!

Ryan

[BugsBunny]

those images are great.

its my first time to see that kind of fish together with removing that, i don't know the name of that it seems that it was an

egg or something but it was liquid.

[sgkerk]

Hi,

I am really interested in this breeding program on Mouse grouper that was posted, is there a chance to visit the site in Sabah.

I am in Singapore.

Thanks
kerk

[spawner]

This species has long been breed overseas, in huge numbers. Most are shipped to live fish markets. If you search "Grouper Culture" in Google or Google the genus "Cromileptes culture" of these species you will find a lot of activity. If you don't mind, post a list of references you find and sites you find informative, others will find the information useful.

[aantreklik_jared]

In my experience, these guys can tollerate salinity down to 20ppt.