A large, long-bodied snapper in dark green to blue-grey, reaching 120 cm (47 in) and built like a torpedo rather than like the deep-bodied snappers of the reef. A groove running forward from the eye is the character that settles the identification when the colour looks ambiguous, which it often does in blue water.
It patrols in open water over slopes and along walls, usually alone and usually at a steady unhurried pace that turns into a very fast one when it decides to hunt. The diet is fish, taken in open water, with squid and crustaceans as well. Big individuals are wary and rarely allow a close approach; smaller ones sometimes follow divers, apparently using them as beaters. As a food fish it is prized across the Indo-Pacific, and where it is targeted heavily the large animals disappear first.
- long cylindrical body, dark green to blue-grey
- distinct groove running forward from the eye to the nostril
- cruises steadily in open water, often alone
- length up to 120 cm
