Hawaiian grouper

Hawaiian grouper
Conservation status
Near Threatened  (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Perciformes
Family:	Serranidae
Genus:	Hyporthodus
Species:	H. quernus
Binomial name
Hyporthodus quernus (Seale, 1901)
Synonyms
Epinephelus quernus

The Hawaiian grouper (Hyporthodus quernus, formerly Epinephelus quernus) is a species of marine fish in the Serranidae family. A large inquisitive inhabitant endemic to the Hawaiian Archipelago (most common around Midway and Kure Atoll) and Johnston Island.

The Hawaiian grouper prefers deep cool waters and has been sighted at 380 ft. It is carnivorous and feeds on fishes and large invertebrates, attaining a length and weight of at least 3 feet and 50 pounds. Hawaiian groupers are protogynious and reproduce externally (fertilization in open water/substratum egg scatterers). They do not guard their eggs once laid. A long-lived, commercially important species (member of the 'Deep Seven') and highly sensitive to over-harvesting, the species is currently listed on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species as near threatened (NT). The Hawaiian name for this grouper is hāpu‘u, juveniles known as hāpu‘upu‘u.

Sources

• Cornish, A. 2004. Hyporthodus quernus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2006. Downloaded on 4 August 2016.
• Heemstra, P.C. and J.E. Randall 1993 FAO Species Catalogue. Vol. 16. Groupers of the world (family Serranidae, subfamily Epinephelinae). An annotated and illustrated catalogue of the grouper, rockcod, hind, coral grouper and lyretail species known to date. Rome: FAO. FAO Fish. Synop. 125(16):382
• Craig, Matthew T.; Hastings, Philip A. (2007-02-24). "A molecular phylogeny of the groupers of the subfamily Epinephelinae (Serranidae) with a revised classification of the Epinephelini". Ichthyological Research. 54 (1): 1–17. doi:10.1007/s10228-006-0367-x. ISSN 1341-8998. 
• Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2016). "Hyporthodus quernus" in FishBase. April 2016 version.