The humpback grouper (Cromileptes altivelis), also known as the panther grouper, (in Australia) barramundi cod, (in the Philippines, in Tagalog) lapu-lapung senorita, (in the Philippines, in Bisayan) miro-miro, (in Japan) sarasa-hata, (in India) kalava, and many other local names,[4] is a species of marine ray-finned fish.

Specifically, it is a grouper from the subfamily Epinephelinae, which is in the family Serranidae, which also includes the anthias and sea basses.

The humpback grouper was first formally described as Serranus altivelis in 1828 by the French zoologist Achille Valenciennes (1794–1865) with the type locality given as Java.

[5] In 1839, the English naturalist William Swainson (1789–1855) placed it in the subgenus Chromileptes, which was later created as a monotypic genus.

[3] Recent molecular analyses based on five genes show that Cromileptes altivelis is included in the same clade as species of Epinephelus.

The hybrid had 1.6x faster growth rate than the humpback grouper, 4.7% increased meat yield, yet was more morphologically similar to E.

[11] The humpback grouper lives in clear waters from lagoons and seaward reefs with a preference for dead or silty areas.

[13] Although there are fears of the humpback grouper becoming invasive in North America, there remains no current breeding populations within the western Atlantic as of 2013.

[10] The diet of this grouper is based on small fishes and crustaceans,[3] such as krill, shrimp, squids, and clams.

[16] Like the other members of its family, the humpback grouper is demersal, solitary (except during mating periods), defends a territory, and is an ambush predator.

[4] This species is a protogynous hermaphrodite; in other words, all individuals are born female, with the ability to transform to males as they grow older.

[8] Interestingly enough, cryopreservation has been tested with these humpback grouper embryos, with the survival rate of 7.55% and maximum time of viability being 5 days.

It is bred in aquaculture, but there is no evidence that captive breeding has reduced the fishing pressure on wild populations.

[1] Other potentially effective management techniques to preserve the humpback grouper would be implementing size limits, no-take areas, and increasing effort control.

[17] Hatchery-produced groupers are susceptible to having poorly functioning swim bladders, causing juveniles to circle on the surface until death, with the mortality rate ranging from 20 to 30% from this condition.

Larvae are stocked into dark culture tanks before hatching to reduce 'shock syndrome', which is a cause of mortality due to dramatic physical changes like water disturbances, or bright light.

[21] In terms of feeding, there remains low interest to develop specialized food diets for the small humpback grouper market.

In Bali, 'backyard' hatcheries contributed to economic development, with an increased profit compared to more traditional local agricultural paths such as coconut plantations.