Northern snapper
| Northern snapper | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Northern snapper ( Lutjanus campechanus ) |
||||||||||||
| Systematics | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Lutjanus campechanus | ||||||||||||
| ( Poey , 1860) |
The northern snapper ( Lutjanus campechanus ), known in English as the red snapper , lives in the Gulf of Mexico and on the Atlantic coast of the USA north to Massachusetts . However, it is becoming increasingly rare north of North Carolina .
features
The northern snapper is usually two feet long. The largest captured animal was 1.26 m long and 38 kg. He is relatively high back. The eyes are small, the head about 6.5 times longer than the diameter of the eyes. The pectoral fins are long but do not reach the anus . Above the sideline , the scales stand in oblique rows that rise to the dorsal fin, below in rows parallel to the sideline. The color of the northern snapper is scarlet to brick red, specimens under a length of 30 to 35 cm have a large dark spot below the soft-rayed part of the dorsal fin.
- Fin formula : dorsal X / 14, anal III / (8) -9, pectoral 17.
Way of life
The Northern Snapper lives in rocky reefs at depths of 10 to 190 meters. Most often it stays at depths of 30 to 130 meters and deeper in the northern parts of its range than in the southern parts. It feeds mainly on smaller fish, crustaceans , cephalopods , worms, snails and other invertebrates. It reproduces from April to December. Spawning activities are most intense in the northern Gulf of Mexico from June to August and off southwest Florida from August to September. The Northern Snapper usually lives for 10 to 16 years. The eggs released into the open water have a diameter of 0.77 to 0.85 mm and the larvae hatch at a water temperature of 23 to 27 ° C after 20 to 27 hours.
fishing
The northern snapper is an excellent food fish and one of the major catch fish in the Gulf of Mexico. It is caught with longlines and bottom trawls . In America it is referred to and sold as "Red Snapper", while in Germany only the Malabar snapper ( Lutjanus malabaricus ) can be referred to as a red snapper in the fish trade.
literature
- Gerald Allen : Snappers of the World. An Annotated and Illustrated Catalog of Lutjanid Species Known to Date. FAO Species Catalog, Vol. 6, pp. 68-69, Rome 1985, ISBN 92-5-102321-2
Web links
- Northern snapper on Fishbase.org (English)
- http://www.meeresfruechte.de/service/fischlexikon/red-snapper/