The Brazilian snapper, (''Lutjanus alexandrei'') is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

of snapper native to the

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...

waters of the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

off the coast of

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

Taxonomy

The Brazilian snapper was first formally described in 2007 by the Brazilian

marine biologist Marine biology is the scientific study of the biology of marine life, organisms in the sea. Given that in biology many scientific classification, phyla, family (biology), families and genera have some species that live in the sea and others th ...

Rodrigo Leão de Moura and the

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

marine scientist Oceanography (), also known as oceanology and ocean science, is the scientific study of the oceans. It is an Earth science, which covers a wide range of topics, including ecosystem dynamics; ocean currents, Wind wave, waves, and geophysical flu ...

Kenyon C. Lindeman with the type locality given as Camurupim Reef near

Tamandaré Tamandarë (Brazilian Portuguese: ''Tamandaré''; Old Tupi: ''Tamandûaré'', lit. "different") is a coastal municipality about south of Recife, the capital city of the Brazilian state of Pernambuco. Geography * State - Pernambuco * Region - ...

Pernambuco State Pernambuco () is a state of Brazil, located in the Northeast region of the country. With an estimated population of 9.6 million people as of 2020, making it seventh-most populous state of Brazil and with around 98,148 km², being the 19 ...

, Brazil. 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 ...

honours the pioneering Brazilian naturalist

Alexandre Rodrigues Ferreira Alexandre Rodrigues Ferreira (April 27, 1756 – April 23, 1815) was a Portuguese naturalist born in Brazil. He undertook an extensive journey which crossed the interior of the Amazon Basin to Mato Grosso, between 1783 and 1792. During this jou ...

Description

The Brazilian snapper has a relatively deep body which has a mean depth which is around 40% of its standard length. It has a long pointed, snout and a large terminal mouth which is protractile. There is a row of conical teeth on each jaw with the anterior pair in the upper jaw enlarged into fang-like teeth which are visible when the mouth is closed. There are also pairs of canine-like pointed conical teeth in lower jaw. The

vomerine teeth The vomer (; lat, vomer, lit=ploughshare) 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 maxill ...

are arranged in an anchor-shaped patch, having an obvious extension behind its centre. The

dorsal fin A dorsal fin is a fin located on the back of most marine and freshwater vertebrates within various taxa of the animal kingdom. Many species of animals possessing dorsal fins are not particularly closely related to each other, though through conv ...

is continuous with 10 spines in its anterior portion and 14 soft rays in its posterior portion, there is a slight notch at the boundary between the spiny and soft rayed parts of the fin. The

anal fin Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as se ...

has 3 spines and 8 soft rays. The preoperculum is serrated and has a poorly developed notch and knob. This species is variable in colour but normally they are reddish marked with more or less clear vertical bands on the body and sometimes a diagonal band over the eye. The blue spots which are present on the faces of this species allow it to be identified in comparison with similar species, these run in an irregular line from the corner of the mouth to the edge of the operculum with another a brief row behind the eye and a small number dispersed on the cheek. The maximum standard length recorded for this species is and the maximum published weight is .

Distribution and habitat

The Brazilian snapper is found in the western Atlantic Ocean where it is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to the coast of Brazil. It has been recorded from the state of

Maranhão Maranhão () is a state in Brazil. Located in the country's Northeast Region, it has a population of about 7 million and an area of . Clockwise from north, it borders on the Atlantic Ocean for 2,243 km and the states of Piauí, Tocantins and ...

to the southern coast of the state of

Bahia Bahia ( , , ; meaning "bay") is one of the 26 Federative units of Brazil, states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region of the country. It is the fourth-largest Brazilian state by population (after São Paulo (sta ...

in the Northeast Region. It can be found from the tidal shallows to a depth of on coral reefs, rocky shores, coastal lagoons with brackish water, mangroves and other shallow water habitats which have a mosaic of soft and hard substrates. Juveniles are commoner in mamgroves and other shallow water habitats, often in mixed schools with juvenile dog snapper (''L. jocu'').

Biology

The Brazilian snapper, like other snappers, is a nocturnal predator and the adults are found either solitarily or in groups on reefs during the day, often mixed with dog snappers.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2481926 Brazilian snapper Taxa named by Rodrigo Leão de Moura Taxa named by Kenyon C. Lindeman Fish described in 2007