🐠 Panther Grouper (Cromileptes altivelis)
A Cream-White Body Covered in Bold Black Polka Dots • A Signature Humpback Profile • A Hardy, Fast-Growing Showpiece
 
📋 The Panther Grouper, also known as the Polka-Dot, Humpback, or High-Finned Grouper, or the Barramundi Cod, has a distinctive cream-to-white body covered in bold black spots, with a vertically elongated "humpback" profile created by a narrow dorsal area and a concave head base. It's one of the most recognisable groupers in the hobby.
It lives in lagoons, coral reefs, and seaward reef environments from southern Japan through Southeast Asia, Micronesia, and New Caledonia to northern Australia. It's an ambush-oriented predator and one of the hardier, easier-to-care-for groupers once its size is planned for. It's a little shy at first, so plenty of live rock cover helps it settle, and it's an escape artist, so use a tight-fitting lid.
It grows quickly to up to 70cm, so plan on at least 570L, and about 1,100L for a full adult, with strong filtration. It's not reef safe: it will eat any invertebrate or fish small enough to fit in its mouth, so keep it with robust tankmates it can't swallow.
 
💡 Highlights
🎨 Cream-White With Bold Black Polka Dots: An instantly recognisable pattern
🐪 A Signature Humpback Profile: Unlike any other grouper
💪 Hardy: One of the easier groupers once its size is planned for
📏 Up to 70cm, Fast-Growing: A showpiece for large tanks
🪸 Not Reef Safe: Eats any invertebrate or fish it can fit in its mouth