Yellowtail snapper
| Yellowtail snapper | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Yellow-tailed snapper ( Ocyurus chrysurus ) |
||||||||||||
| Systematics | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| Scientific name of the genus | ||||||||||||
| Ocyurus | ||||||||||||
| Gill , 1862 | ||||||||||||
| Scientific name of the species | ||||||||||||
| Ocyurus chrysurus | ||||||||||||
| ( Bloch , 1791) |
The yellow-tailed snapper ( Ocyurus chrysurus , Syn . : Sparus chrysurus ) is a species of fish that occurs in the western Atlantic from the coast of the American state of North Carolina and Bermuda across the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico to the coast of southeastern Brazil. They are seldom observed or captured north to Massachusetts . The species is particularly common in the Caribbean, on the Florida coast and in the Bahamas . The species is the only member of the genus Ocyurus .
features
The yellowtail snapper usually reaches a length of 40 cm, but specimens longer than 80 cm have also been caught. The maximum weight determined so far is 4.1 kg. For a snapper, the head is relatively small. The lower jaw protrudes slightly. The upper sides of the body and the back are colored blue to purple with a few scattered yellow spots. The belly and the lower sides of the body are whitish with very narrow reddish or yellow longitudinal stripes. A conspicuous yellow band extends from the eye to the tail stalk. The dorsal and caudal fins are yellowish, the pelvic fins and anal fin are whitish.
- Fin formula : Dorsal X / 12–14, Anale III / 8–9.
Way of life
The species lives near the coast from the water surface to depths of around 180 meters (mostly between 10 and 70 m), especially around coral reefs . It lives in small groups and mostly lives just above the sea floor. Yellow-tailed snapper mainly hunt at night and feed on small schooling fish such as herrings and sardines, on various crustaceans, worms, snails and small cephalopods. Young yellow-tailed snapper eat zooplankton and are often seen over seagrass beds. They become sexually mature with a length of 25 to 30 cm and spawn in groups throughout the year. The yellow-tailed snapper hybridizes with Lutjanus synagris . The hybrids were described as a separate species ( Lutjanus ambiguus ).
literature
- Baensch / Patzner: Mergus Sea Water Atlas Volume 7 Perciformes (perch like) , Mergus-Verlag, Melle, 1998, ISBN 3-88244-107-0 , page 549
- Gerald R. Allen : FAO species catalog Vol. 6. Snappers of the world. An annotated and illustrated catalog of lutjanid species known to date. Rome, 1985, ISBN 92-5-102321-2 , pp. 129-130.
Web links
- Ocyurus chrysurus on Fishbase.org (English)