A slender silvery-blue snapper with a deeply forked tail and a jaw that runs well past the eye, giving it a longer face than any of its relatives here. It reaches about 70 cm (28 in) and hunts in open water along slopes and drop-offs rather than working the reef surface.
The long jaws and reduced teeth go with a different technique: instead of grabbing prey from cover it runs down small fish in midwater, often in fast passes at the edge of visibility. Divers see it as a pale shape cruising past on a wall dive, singly or in small groups, usually deeper than 20 m (65 ft). It is taken by hook and line throughout its range but has none of the commercial weight of the larger snappers, and reef populations here look intact.
How to recognise it
- slender silvery-blue body with a deeply forked tail
- jaw extends well past the eye, giving a long-faced look
- swims in open water rather than over the reef
- length up to 70 cm
