Grouper

Groupers are a diverse group of marine ray-finned fish in the family Epinephelidae, in the order Perciformes.

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.

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 399 kilograms (880 pounds) and a length of 2.43 m (7 ft 11+1⁄2 in), 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.

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]}

Research indicates roving coralgroupers (Plectropomus pessuliferus) sometimes cooperate with giant morays in hunting. Groupers are also one of the only animals that eat invasive red lionfish.

The word "grouper" is from the Portuguese name, garoupa, which has been speculated to come from an indigenous South American language. 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.

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 hāpuku). In the Philippines, groupers are generally known as lapu-lapu in Luzon, while in the Visayas and Mindanao they are known as pugapo. It is known as kerapu in both Indonesian and Malay. In the Middle East, the fish is known as 'hammour', and is widely eaten, especially in the Persian Gulf region. 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. However, Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes presently treats these as distinct families.