Snapper

Lutjanus kasmira

The common bluestripe snapper, also called the bluebanded snapper, bluestripe sea perch, fourline snapper, or moonlighter, is a snapper of the family Lutjanidae. It is native to a vast range from the African coast and the Red Sea across the Indian Ocean to the central Pacific. Commercially important and prized as a game fish, it also features in the aquarium trade.

Family

Lutjanidae

Avg Size

25-35 cm

Habitat

The bluestripe snapper is among the most widespread members of the Lutjanidae, ranging from the Egyptian Red Sea coast south to Madagascar and east to India, China, Southeast Asia, Australia, and numerous Pacific islands. Like many snappers it lives on coral reefs, occupying shallow lagoons and outer reef slopes to at least 60 m (200 ft), reaching 180 m (590 ft) at the Marquesas and 265 m (869 ft) in the Red Sea. In Hawaii it also spends time over seagrass and sandy bottoms. During daylight it often forms large aggregations around coral formations, caves, or wrecks.

Behaviour

The bluestripe snapper has a broad diet, taking fish, shrimp, crabs, stomatopods, cephalopods, and planktonic crustaceans as well as plant and algal matter. What it eats shifts with age, location, and whatever prey happens to be common nearby.

Where & When to See It

Sodfa

Snapper

Where & When to See It

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