A silver snapper with six to eight golden stripes and one blunt black blotch on the upper side, up to 50 cm (20 in) though most are nearer 30. By day it hangs in a loose, motionless group in the shade of a table coral or an overhang, and the group is the giveaway: whatever else is under there, the fish with the spot are these.
That spot is worth learning properly, because three snappers here wear one and divers mix them up constantly. On this fish the blotch is large and sits mostly above the lateral line, just brushing it. On Ehrenberg's Snapper it is smaller and centered on the line, spilling below it. And the Bigeye Snapper has no blotch at all - one broad yellow stripe down the middle and an eye far too big for its head. Spot position, then eye size: that is the whole key.
It begins life somewhere no reef fish is supposed to be. The young live in mangrove creeks and estuaries, and they push up into the lower reaches of rivers, into water fresh enough that most reef species would not last an hour. They spend months there among the roots, then move out to the reef as they grow - which is one reason a mangrove cut down inland shows up as fewer snappers on the reef years later.
The day group is not feeding. It disperses after dark, and the fish hunt small fish, crabs and shrimps across sand and rubble through the night, coming back to the same shade by morning. Big enough to be worth catching, and large individuals in some regions have caused ciguatera poisoning - which is why the flag on this card is about the table rather than about the reef.
The species. Lutjanus fulviflamma (Forsskål 1775) - fulvus (brownish yellow) + flamma (fire). ETYFish
- big black blotch on the upper side, mostly above the lateral line
- six to eight golden-yellow stripes along a silver body
- yellow fins, the tail plain and slightly forked
- usually in a loose stationary group under a table coral or an overhang by day
- length up to 50 cm, most fish around 30 cm
Why it's threatened
Threat classification from the IUCN Red List.
