lautnusantara.com - Lutjanidae, or snappers are fish that belong to perciform family, mainly they are marine fish, but with some members inhabiting estuaries, and even will feeding in fresh water. The family includes about 113 species. Many species of the snapper are important food fish and widely consumes by people around the world.
Like it has been said before, there are so many species of snapper, but here list below are 4 species of snapper that commonly found in Indonesia:
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1. Flame Snapper (Etelis coruscans)
The Flame Snapper can be recognised by its deep pink to red colour and deeply forked caudal fin. Its distribution can be seen throoughout Indo-Pacific, from East Africa eastward to the Hawaiian Islands. At the north region it span from Sea of Japan through Australia (Queensland and New South Wales) in the south. They feed on small fishes, squids and small crustaceans. Flame snapper is considered as an important food fish in some areas and you can find it marketed as a fresh fish or frozen packed.
2. Bengal Snapper (Lutjanus bengalensis)
Some of the characteristic of Bengal snapper are; dorsal fin with 11 or 12 spines and 12–14 soft rays, moderately deep body, preopercular notch well developed. The adults fish is mainly inhabit coral and rocky reefs area. They sometimes form small aggregations around rocky outcrops and coral heads during daylight hours. Bengal snapper food consist of small fishes and crustaceans. its distribution can be found in Indo-pacific region, from South africa to Philippines, and some also spotted near Japan.
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3. Red Bass (Lutjanus bohar)
The Lutjanus bohar can reach a length of 90 cm, though most do not exceed 76 cm. The greatest recorded weight for this species is 12.5 kg. These large reddish tropical snappers show darker fins, a rounded profile of head and a groove running from the nostrils to the eyes. This species is native to the Indian Ocean. It is widespread in the Indo-Pacific from the east African coast, north to the Red Sea, to the western Pacific Ocean, north to the Ryukyu Islands, south to Australia. It is a coral reef inhabitant, being found at depths from 4 to 180 m, though usually between 10 and 70 m.
4. Pacific Ruby Snapper (Etelis cf. carbunculus)
Etelis carbunculus is an elongated fish with a small head and a large eye, the space between the eyes is flat. The mouth extends back as far as the middle of the eye and the jaws are each equipped with a single row of conical teeth with 1 or 2 pairs of enlarged canines at the front. This fish has a wide distribution and can be found throughout the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It occurs from the Red Sea south to Mozambique on the coast of East Africa to the Persian Gulf, across the Indian Ocean into the Pacific Ocean.
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