Malabar snapper
| Malabar snapper | ||||||||||||
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Malabar snapper ( Lutjanus malabaricus ), a juvenile fish at the bottom right, an adult fish at the top. |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Lutjanus malabaricus | ||||||||||||
| ( Bloch & Schneider , 1801) |
The Malabar snapper ( Lutjanus malabaricus ), known in the German fish trade as the red snapper or red snapper , is a marine fish that is found in the Persian Gulf and the northern Indian Ocean along the coast of South Asia and in the western Pacific in the Malay Archipelago , north to southern Japan , south to the north and east coast of Australia and east to Fiji . Reports of occurrence of the Malabar snapper on the coast of East Africa are probably based on confusion with Lutjanus sanguineus , a fish similar in appearance that, like the Malabar snapper, also lives in the northern Indian Ocean.
features
The Malabar snapper is usually half a meter long, with a maximum length of one meter and a weight of 7.9 kg. He is relatively high back. The standard length is 2.2 to 2.8 times the body height at its highest point. The head profile is straight or slightly concave and quite steep. The pre-orbital bone (the bone in front of the eye socket) is much wider than the diameter of the eye. Outgrowths and pits on the gill cover are only weakly developed. The tongue is toothless and smooth. On the lower sections of the first gill arch there are 12 to 14 of a total of 18 to 20 gill trap rays . The rear sections of the dorsal and anal fin are rounded, the caudal fin is straight. Above the sideline , the scales stand in oblique rows that rise to the dorsal fin, below in rows parallel to the sideline.
- Fin formula : dorsal XI / 12–14, anal III / 8–9, pectoral 16–17.
The back and sides of adult Malabar snapper are red or red-orange, the lower areas are lighter. The fins are reddish. Young fish have a wide, sloping band that extends from the upper jaw over the eyes to the beginning of the dorsal fin, and a conspicuous black band above the caudal fin stalk, which is bordered in white in front and behind. The flanks are patterned with narrow, reddish lines.
Way of life
The Malabar snapper inhabits reefs near and far from the coast at depths of 12 to 100 meters. On the North West Shelf off the coast of Western Australia, he prefers habitats overgrown by gorgonians and sponges , and in the Arafura Sea, marine regions with hardened mud bottoms. Young fish tend to live in shallow water, adult fish at greater depths. The Malabar snapper is swarm-forming and forms mixed swarms with Lutjanus erythropterus on the coasts of Australia . It hunts mainly at night and feeds mainly on smaller fish, to a lesser extent on bottom-dwelling crustaceans , cephalopods and other invertebrates. It reproduces all year round. Spawning activities are most intense in spring and summer. The Malabar snapper is ten to twelve years old.
fishing
The Malabar snapper is an excellent food fish. It is caught with longlines and bottom trawls . In Germany only the Malabar snapper may be marketed under the name "Roter Schnapper" or "Red Snapper", while in America "Red Snapper" means Lutjanus campechanus .
literature
- Gerald Allen : Snappers of the World. An Annotated and Illustrated Catalog of Lutjanid Species Known to Date. FAO Species Catalog, Vol. 6, pp. 102-103, Rome, 1985, ISBN 92-5-102321-2
- Hans A. Baensch / Robert A. Patzner: Mergus Sea Water Atlas Volume 7 Perciformes (perch-like) , Mergus-Verlag, Melle, 1998, ISBN 3-88244-107-0
