Lutjanus synagris

• Overview
• Common Names
• Description
• Biology
• Taxonomy
• Similar Species
• More Info
• Further Reading
• Notes

Overview

Family : Snappers ; Found over all types of bottom , but mainly around coral reefs and on vegetated sandy areas. In turbid as well as clear water[1]. Often forms large aggregations, especially during the breeding season . Feeds at night on small fishes , bottom-living crabs, shrimps, worms, gastropods and cephalopods . Good food fish , it is marketed fresh.

Common Names

Click on the language to view common names.

Description

Family Lutjanidae

Marine ; rarely estuarine . Some species do enter freshwater for feeding. Tropical and subtropical : Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans. Dorsal fin continuous or slightly notched . Spines in dorsal fin 10-12; soft rays 10-17. Three spines in anal fin; soft rays 7-11. Pelvic fins originating just behind pectoral base . Mouth moderate to large; terminal . Jaws bearing enlarged canine teeth. Palatine teeth small. Vomer usually with small teeth. Maxilla covered by preorbital with the mouth closed. Branchiostegal rays 7. Vertebrae 24 (10 + 14). To about 1 m maximum length . Most species are predators of crustaceans and fishes , several are planktivores . Most do well in aquaria , but grow too fast. Valued as food fish but sometimes a cause of ciguatera. Generally demersal , down to depths of about 450 m.The family Lutjanidae belongs to the Class Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes) and the Order Perciformes. It contains 17 genera and 103 species. It may be found in Marine, Brackish , and Freshwater environments and is primarily Marine. Some members of this family are used in the aquarium trade. Reproductively, most members of this family are nonguarders. The main mode of swimming of adult fish in this family is carangiform . Compared with other fish, the activity level of this family tends to be normal. Members of this family have been dated back to the Eocene epoch of the Tertiary period. Etymology of this family name : Malay, ikan lutjan, name of a fish

Physical Description

Habitat

Adult lane snappers live in a variety of habitats , but are most commonly observed over reefs and vegetated sandy bottoms in shallow inshore waters . This species has also been reported in offshore waters to depths of 1300 feet (400 meters). Once established , adult snappers remain in the same area for their entire lives. Lane snappers also occur in seagrass beds associated with shrimping areas. Juveniles live in protected inshore areas.

Typically found in water with a depth of 0 to -5,207 meters (0 to -17,083 feet).[2]

Biome: Saltwater . Reef-associated .

Biology

Diet

Because the lane snapper lives in a wide range of habitats , they are opportunistic predators , feeding on a variety of prey . Lane snappers feed nocturnally on smaller fishes , shrimp, cephalopods , gastropods , and crabs.

Reproduction

Spawning occurs throughout the spring and summer, dependent upon location. In Cuba, spawning occurs from March through September with peaks in July and August, while in Puerto Rico spawning peaks in May. The snappers aggregate offshore during these spawning events. The pelagic eggs are released into open waters and are transported by the ocean currents . After being released and fertilized, the eggs hatch within 23 hours. Although little is known about the larvae, they are planktonic at lengths less than 10 mm. They eventually settle on suitable habitat that offers some protection from predators .

Juveniles are pale upon settlement , with red-tinged dorsal fins and yellow-tinged pelvic fins and pale bands on the body. They also have a dorsolateral spot.

Behavior

Predators:

Predators of the lane snapper include sharks and other large predatory fishes , including other species of snappers .

Sound types : knocks. Sound organ: swim bladder.

Taxonomy

Ambiguous Synonyms

1. Lutjanus brachypterus Cope, 1871
2. Prionodes sanctiandrewsi Fowler, 1944

Unambiguous Synonyms

1. Lutianus synagris (Linnaeus, 1758)
2. Lutjanus aubrieti Desmarest, 1823
3. Lutjanus aubrietii Desmarest, 1823
4. Mesoprion uninotatus Cuvier, 1828
5. Neomaenis megalophthalmus Evermann & Marsh, 1900
6. Sparus synagris Linnaeus, 1758
7. Sparus vermicularis Bloch & Schneider, 1801

Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name . Synonym: Lutianus synagris. Latest taxonomic scrutiny: February 16, 1998.

English language common names include lane snapper, candy striper, rainbow snapper, bream, godbless, mexican snapper, moonlight grunt, pot snapper, redfish, redtailed snapper, snapper, spot snapper, and williacke. Other common names include areoco (Portuguese), argente (French), bermejuelo (Spanish), biajaiba (Spanish), chino (Spanish), coral largu (Papiamento), kisenfuedai (Japanese), luciano-riscado (Portuguese), lucjan smugowy (Polish), manchego (Spanish), mancheva (Spanish), paguette (French), pargo (Spanish), pargo biajaiba (Spanish), pargo guanapo (Spanish), pargo viajaiba (Spanish), rayado (Spanish), rouge (French), royac (French), sarde (French), vermelho-arioco (Portuguese), villajaiba (Spanish), vivaneau gazon (French), vivaneau raye (French), and yeux de boeuf (French).

Other common names: Portuguese: Areiacó, Portuguese: Areocó, French: Argente, Portuguese: Ariacó, Portuguese: Aricó, Portuguese: Ariocó, Portuguese: Baúna, Spanish: Bermejuelo, Spanish: Biajaiba, Portuguese: Caranho, Portuguese: Caranho-verdadeiro, Spanish: Chino, Portuguese: Ciobinha, Papiamento: Cora largu, Portuguese: Dentão, Spanish: Guanapo, Japanese: Kisenfuedai, Portuguese: Luciano-riscado, Polish: Lucjan smugowy, Spanish: Manchego, Spanish: Mancheva, French: Paguette, Spanish: Pargo, Spanish: Pargo biajaiba, Spanish: Pargo guanapo, Spanish: Pargo viajaiba, Danish: Pletsnapper, Swedish: Randig snapper, Spanish: Rayado, French: Rouge, French: Royac, French: Sarde, German: Schnapper, Portuguese: Siobinha, Portuguese: Siuquira, German: Snapper, Portuguese: Vermelho, Portuguese: Vermelho-aricó, Portuguese: Vermelho-arioco, Portuguese: Vermelho-ariocó, Portuguese: Vermelho-henrique, Portuguese: Vermelho-verdadeiro, Spanish: Villajaiba, French: Vivaneau gazon, Creole, French: Vivianeau rayé, French: Yeux de boeuf.

Carl Linnaeus first described Lutjanus synagris in 1758. Synonyms include Sparus vermicularis (Bloch and Schneider, 1801), Lutjanus aubrieti (Desmarest, 1823), Mesoprion uninotatus (Cuvier, 1828), Lutjanus brachypterus (Cope, 1871), and Neomaenis megalophthalmus (Evermann and Marsh 1900).

Similar Species

Members of the genus Lutjanus

There are approximately 239 species in this genus. Here are just 100 of them:

L. quinquelineatus · L. acutirostris · L. adetii (Yellow-Banded Sergeant-Major) · L. adetti · L. agennes (African Cubera Snapper) · L. aja · L. altifrontalis · L. amabilis · L. ambiguus (Ambiguous Snapper) · L. amblycephus · L. amboinensis · L. analis (Mutton Snapper) · L. annularis · L. apodus (Schoolmaster Snapper) · L. aratus (Mullet Snapper) · L. argentanautatus · L. argentimaculatus (Mangrove Red Snapper) · L. argentiventris (Yellowtail Snapper) · L. argentiventrus · L. argentivittatus · L. argentriventris · L. argiventris · L. arnabilis · L. atrarius · L. aubrieti · L. aurantius · L. aureovittatus · L. aurorubens · L. campechanus · L. behar · L. bengalensis (Bengal Snapper) · L. bidens · L. biguttatus (Two-Spot Banded Snapper) · L. bitaeniatus (Indonesian Shortfin Eel) · L. blackfordi · L. blackfordii · L. bleekeri · L. bohar (Two-Spot Banded-Snapper) · L. bonhamensis · L. boutton (Mollucan Snapper) · L. synagris · L. brunnichii · L. bucannella · L. buccanella (Blackfin Red Snapper) · L. caballerote · L. caeruleolineatus · L. caeruleovittatus · L. campechanus (Carribbean Red Snapper) · L. campecheanus · L. campechianus · L. campeohanus · L. canis · L. canponotatus · L. carponatatus · L. carponotatus (Dusky-Striped Snapper) · L. caxi · L. caxis · L. cayanensis · L. cayennensis · L. chaetodonoides · L. chirtah · L. chlorosochrus · L. chrenbergi · L. chrysops · L. chrysotaenia · L. chrysurus · L. cinereus · L. coatesi · L. coatsi · L. sanguineus · L. coeruleolineatus (Blue Line Snapper) · L. coeruleovittatus · L. colorado (Colorado Snapper) · L. compechianus · L. cornubicus · L. cubera · L. cyanopterus (Canteen Snapper) · L. cynodon · L. decacanthus · L. decessatus · L. decussates · L. decussatus (Crossbanded Snapper) · L. dentatus (African Brown Snapper) · L. diacanthus · L. dodecacanthoides (Sunbeam Snapper) · L. dodecacanthus · L. dodecanthodes · L. duodecimlineatus · L. duodememliniatus · L. ehrenbergi · L. ehrenbergii (Ehrenberg´s Seaperch) · L. ehrenburgi · L. ellipticus · L. endacacanthus · L. endecacanthus (Guinea Snapper) · L. endecacathus · L. entactus · L. ephippium · L. erythropterus (Saddle-Tailed Sea-Perch) · L. eutactus

More Info

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Further Reading

• A catalogue of the fishes known to inhabit the waters of North America, north of th Tropic of Cancer, with notes on the species discovered in 1883 and 1884, by David Starr Jordan. Washington, Govt. print. off., 1885. ENG url p. 87.
• A list of common and scientific names of fishes from the United States and Canada. Report presented at the eighty-ninth annual meeting, Clearwater, Fla., Sept. 16-18, 1959. Ann Arbor, Mich., 1960. ENG url p. 26.
• Algo sobre peces de Cuba: con cierta extension a los de Puerto Rico y los Estados Unidos / por Juan Vilar� Diaz. Habana: Impr. de A. Alvarez y C�a., 1893. SPA url p. 55.
• Allen, G. R. 1985. Snappers of the World: An Annotated and Illustrated Cataloque of Lutjanid Species Known to Date. FAO Fisheries Synopsis, no. 125, vol. 6. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Rome, Italy. vi + 208. ISBN: 92-5-102321-2.
• Allen, G.R. (1985). FAO species catalogue. Vol. 6. Snappers of the world. An annotated and illustrated catalogue of lutjanid species known to date. FAO Fish. Synop. 6(125):208 p.
• Alleng, G.P. (1997). The fauna of the Port Royal Mangal, Kingston, Jamaica. Studies on the Natural History of the Caribbean Region 73:25-42.
• Annual report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution. Washington: Smithsonian Institution, -1965. ENG url p. 168.
• Böhlke, J.E. and C.C.G. Chaplin (1993). Fishes of the Bahamas and adjacent tropical waters. 2nd edition. University of Texas Press, Austin.
• Bouchon-Navaro, Y. and M. Louis (1986). Les poissons des formations corallienes de la Martinique. Ann. Inst. Océanogr., Paris 62(2):251-270.
• Bulletin - United States National Museum. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, [etc.];1877-1971. ENG url p. 1271.
• Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History). London: BM(NH) ENG url p. 221.
• Bulletin of the United States Fish Commission. Washington, The Commission, Govt. Print. Off. ENG url p. 118.
• Claro, R. (1994). Características generales de la ictiofauna. p. 55-70. In R. Claro (ed.) Ecología de los peces marinos de Cuba. Instituto de Oceanología Academia de Ciencias de Cuba and Centro de Investigaciones de Quintana Roo.
• Claro, Rodolfo, and Lynne R. Parenti / Claro, Rodolfo, Kenyon C. Lindeman, and L. R. Parenti, eds. 2001. Chapter 2: The Marine Ichthyofauna of Cuba. Ecology of the Marine Fishes of Cuba. Smithsonian Institution Press. Washington, DC, USA. 21-57. ISBN: 1-56098-985-8.
• Denkschriften der Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Classe. Wien: Aus der Kaiserlich-K�niglichen Hof- und Staatsdruckerei, 1850-1918. GER url p. 115.
• FWS/0BS. [Washington]Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Dept. of the Interior. ENG url p. 54, p. 82.
• Final environmental impact statement prepared on the proposed Looe Key National Marine Sanctuary. [Washington, D.C.]: U.S. Dept. of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Office of Coastal Zone Management, [1980] ENG url p. 18.
• Fish, M.P. and W.H. Mowbray (1970). Sounds of Western North Atlantic fishes. A reference file of biological underwater sounds. The John Hopkins Press, Baltimor.
• Fishery bulletin / U.S. Dept. of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Marine Fisheries Service. Washington, D.C.: The Service: ENG url p. 184, p. 185, p. 232, p. 233, p. 234, p. 235, p. 401, p. 404, p. 515, p. 520, p. 524, p. 525, p. 591, p. 619, p. 620, p. 622, p. 627, p. 659, p. 660, p. 734, p. 735, p. 875, p. 886, p. 908.
• Fishery bulletin of the Fish and Wildlife Service. Washington, The Service, U.S. Govt Print. Off. ENG url p. 338.
• Fishes of the Bahama Islands, by Barton A. Bean. Baltimore, The Geographical Society of Baltimore, 1905. ENG url p. 309.
• Lowe-McConnell, R.H. (1962). The fishes of the British Guiana continental shelf, Atlantic coast of South America, with notes on their natural history. J. Linn. Soc. (Zool.) 44(301):667-700.
• Ogden, J.C., J.A. Yntema, and I. Clavijo (1975). An annotated list of the fishes of St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. Spec. Publ. No. 3.
• Our living oceans: the first annual report on the status of U.S. living marine resources. [Washington, D.C.]: U.S. Dept. of Commerce, 1991. ENG url p. 117.
• Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. [Philadelphia, Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia] ENG url p. 137, p. 147, p. 153.
• Proceedings of the United States National Museum. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, [etc.] ENG url p. 125, p. 130, p. 238, p. 41, p. 447, p. 448, p. 573, p. 582.
• Proceedings of the Washington Academy of Sciences. Washington, Washington Academy of Sciences. ENG url p. 171.
• Randall, J.E. (1996). Caribbean reef fishes. Third Edition - revised and enlarged. T.F.H. Publications, Inc. Ltd., Hong Kong. 3nd ed. 368 p.
• Report of the Commissioner - United States Commission of Fish and Fisheries. Washington, The Commission; U.S. Govt. Print. Off. ENG url p. 175, p. 449, p. 450, p. 875.
• Robins, Richard C., Reeve M. Bailey, Carl E. Bond, James R. Brooker, Ernest A. Lachner, et al. 1980. A List of Common and Scientific Names of Fishes from the United States and Canada, Fourth Edition. American Fisheries Society Special Publication, no. 12. American Fisheries Society. Bethesda, Maryland, USA. 174.
• Sensory biology of sharks, skates, and rays / editors Edward S. Hodgson, Robert F. Mathewson. Arlington, Va.: Office of Naval Research, Dept. of the Navy: for sale by the Supt. of Docs., U.S. Govt. Print. Off., 1978. ENG url p. 414.
• Smithsonian miscellaneous collections. Washington: Smithsonian Institution, 1862-1968. ENG url p. 354.
• Special scientific report. Seattle, National Marine Fisheries Service; for sale by the Supt. of Docs., U.S. Govt. Print. Off., 1949-1971. ENG url p. 11.
• Tulane studies in zoology and botany. New Orleans: Tulane University, [1968- ENG url p. 143, p. 158, p. 164.
• Uyeno, T., K. Matsuura and E. Fujii, Editors (1983). Fishes trawled off Suriname and French Guiana. Japan Marine Fishery Resource Research Center, Tokyo, Japan. 519 p.

Notes

Contributors

• American Fisheries Society. Common and Scientific Names of Fishes from the United states, Canada, and Mexico Sixth Edition. Special Publication 29.
• Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-2006. Systema Naturae 2000. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Accessed April 20, 2007.
• Collette, Bruce B. (from FishBase).
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Accessed March 01, 2008. http://www.gbif.org Mediated distribution data from 9 providers.
• Murray, Rebecca and Cathleen Bester. Florida Museum of Natural History

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal March 01, 2008:

• Canadian Museum of Nature: Canadian Museum of Nature Fish Collection
• FishBase: FishBase DiGIR Provider - Philippine Server
• Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University: Canadian Museum of Nature - Fish Collection (OBIS Canada)
• Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University: ECNASAP - East Coast North America Strategic Assessment (OBIS Canada)
• Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University: iziko South African Museum - Fish Collection
• Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History: Vertebrate specimens
• Museum national d'histoire naturelle: Ichtyologie
• Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University: MCZ Fish Collection
• Royal Ontario Museum: Fish specimens
• Senckenberg: Collection Pisces
• UNIBIO, IBUNAM: CNPE/Coleccion Nacional de Peces
• University of Kansas Biodiversity Research Center: Fish Collection

Identifiers

• Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 2495915
• Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: Fis-22798
• Fishbase Species ID: 181
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility Taxonkey: 13740390
• Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) Taxonomic Serial Number (TSN): 168860
• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 115822

Footnotes

1. Lieske, E. and R. Myers (1994). Collins Pocket Guide. Coral reef fishes. Indo-Pacific & Caribbean including the Red Sea. Haper Collins Publishers, 400 p. [back]
2. Mean = 233.270 meters (765.322 feet), Standard Deviation = 3,092.580 based on 52 observations. Ocean depth information for each observation from British Oceanographic Data Centre. [back]

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