''Lutjanus erythropterus'', the crimson snapper, crimson seaperch, high-brow sea-perch, Longman's sea perch, red bream, saddle-tailed perch, small-mouth nannygai or smallmouth sea perch is a species of marine

ray-finned fish Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fish or actinopterygians, is a class of bony fish that comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species. They are so called because of their lightly built fins made of webbings of sk ...

, a snapper belonging to the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Lutjanidae Lutjanidae or snappers are a family of perciform fishes, mainly marine but with some members inhabiting estuaries and, in some cases, fresh water (e.g., '' Lutjanus goldiei''). The family includes about 113 species. Most species are used for foo ...

. It is found in the Pacific and Indian Oceans.

Taxonomy

''Lutjanus erythropterus'' was first formally described in 1790 by the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...

and

zoologist Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the structure, embryology, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct, and how they interact with their ecosystems. Zoology is one ...

Marcus Elieser Bloch with the type locality given as

Nagasaki , officially , is the capital and the largest Cities of Japan, city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. Founded by the Portuguese, the port of Portuguese_Nagasaki, Nagasaki became the sole Nanban trade, port used for tr ...

. The

specific name Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...

is a compound of ''erythros'' meaning “red” and ''pterus'' meaning “fin”, a reference to the red median fins.

Description

''Lutjanus erythropterus'' has a moderately deep body which has a standard length of around two and half times its depth with a steeply sloped head and a large eye. The knob and incision on the

preoperculum This glossary of ichthyology is a list of definitions of terms and concepts used in ichthyology, the study of fishes. A B C ...

are weakly developed. The

vomerine teeth The vomer (; ) is one of the unpaired facial bones of the skull. It is located in the midsagittal line, and articulates with the sphenoid, the ethmoid, the left and right palatine bones, and the left and right maxillary bones. The vomer forms t ...

are arranged a crescent shape with no rearwards extension and there are no teeth on the smooth tongue. The

dorsal fin A dorsal fin is a fin on the back of most marine and freshwater vertebrates. Dorsal fins have evolved independently several times through convergent evolution adapting to marine environments, so the fins are not all homologous. They are found ...

contains 11 spines and 12–14 soft rays and the

anal fin Fins are moving appendages protruding from the body of fish that interact with water to generate thrust and help the fish swim. Apart from the tail or caudal fin, fish fins have no direct connection with the back bone and are supported o ...

has 3 spines and 8–9 soft rays. The long

pectoral fin Fins are moving appendages protruding from the body of fish that interact with water to generate thrust and help the fish aquatic locomotion, swim. Apart from the tail or caudal fin, fish fins have no direct connection with the vertebral column ...

s extend to the level of the anus and contains 17 rays. The

caudal fin Fins are moving appendages protruding from the body of fish that interact with water to generate thrust and help the fish swim. Apart from the tail or caudal fin, fish fins have no direct connection with the back bone and are supported only ...

is truncate. The maximum

total length Fish measurement is the measuring of individual fish and various parts of their anatomies, for data used in many areas of ichthyology, including taxonomy and fishery biology. Overall length Standard length (SL) is the length of a fish measured f ...

recorded for this species is although is more typical. The colour of the adults is pinklish-red to silver, may have a darker red posterior margin on the caudal fin and a light vertical bar behind head.

Distribution and habitat

''Lutjanus erythropterus'' has an Indo-Pacific distribution. Its distribution extends from the Gulf of Oman east to the Admiralty Islands of Papua New Guinea, south to northern Australia and north to southern Japan. This species is likely to be associated with silty substrates in deeper waters, but is sometimes recorded forming schools over reefs and wrecks at depths greater than . Juveniles, once they have attained a length of , settle in shallow waters where there are muddy substrates, sometimes entering estuaries.

Biology

''Lutjanus erythropterus'' is mainly nocturnal, foraging during the night mainly for fish but also for

crustaceans Crustaceans (from Latin meaning: "those with shells" or "crusted ones") are invertebrate animals that constitute one group of Arthropod, arthropods that are traditionally a part of the subphylum Crustacea (), a large, diverse group of mainly aquat ...

cephalopods A cephalopod is any member of the molluscan Taxonomic rank, class Cephalopoda (Greek language, Greek plural , ; "head-feet") such as a squid, octopus, cuttlefish, or nautilus. These exclusively marine animals are characterized by bilateral symm ...

and other benthic invertebrates. They

spawn Spawn or spawning may refer to: * Spawning, the eggs and sperm of aquatic animals Arts, entertainment and media * Spawn (character), a fictional character in the comic series of the same name and in the associated franchise ** ''Spawn: Armageddon' ...

in all months of the year in Australia and Indonesia. It is a relatively slow-growing and long-lived species with a maximum lifespan of 42 years.

Fisheries and conservation

''Lutjanus erythropterus'' is considered to be a high quality eating fish which appears in markets on a regular basis, albeit in small quantities. It is caught using handlines and bottom trawls and is targeted alongside the Malabar blood snapper (''Lutjanus malabaricus'') in Australia by both recreational anglers and commercial fisheries. It is also a quarry species in Indonesia and the Papua New Guinea for recreational, artisanal and commercial fisheries and part of the catch is exported to be sold internationally, in fact, it is a commercial fishery quarry in many parts of its range. In southern China it is being farmed in

aquaculture Aquaculture (less commonly spelled aquiculture), also known as aquafarming, is the controlled cultivation ("farming") of aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans, mollusks, algae and other organisms of value such as aquatic plants (e.g. Nelu ...

. The crimson snapper has a wide distribution and a stable population and is strictly protected in some areas and so the

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...

classifies it as

Least Concern A least-concern species is a species that has been evaluated and categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as not being a focus of wildlife conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wil ...

References

External links

Fishes of Australia : ''Lutjanus erythropterus''
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1850613 erythropterus Fish described in 1790 Taxa named by Marcus Elieser Bloch