Cubera Snapper

The cubera snapper (''Lutjanus cyanopterus''), also known as the Cuban snapper, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a snapper belonging to the family Lutjanidae. It is native to the western Atlantic Ocean. It is a commercially important species as well as being a sought-after game fish, though it has been reported to cause ciguatera poisoning.

Taxonomy

The cubera snapper was first formally described as ''Mesoprion cyanopterus'' in 1828 by the French zoologist Georges Cuvier with the type locality given as Brazil. The specific name is a compound of ''cyano'' meaning "blue" and ''pterus'' which means "fin" as Cuvier described it as having bluish black membranes on its median fins.

Description

The cubera snapper has an oval-shaped, rather streamlined elongate body which is less deep than many other snapper species. It has a pair of front nostrils and a pair of rear nostrils which are simple holes in its snout. The mouth is relatively large with thick lips. The jaws are equipped with canine teeth, one enlarged pair being visible when the mouth is closed. The vomerine teeth are arranged in a crescent shaped or triangular patch with no central posterior extension, with a tooth patch on each side of the roof of the mouth. The preoperculum has a weakly developed knob and notch. This species has long pectoral fins, a continuous dorsal fin and a truncate caudal fin. The dorsal fin contains 10 spines and 14 soft rays while the anal fin has 3 spines and 7-8 soft rays, there is sometimes a notch behind the spiny part of the dorsal fin. The maximum total length recorded for this species is although is more typical, the maximum published weight is . The overall colour of this species is grey to dark brown with pale to dark grey flanks with some individuals showing a slight reddish hue on the body. The caudal fin is light grey, the pectoral fins may be translucent to pale grey and there is a bluish hue to the anal, pectoral and pelvic fins. The juveniles show an indistinct barred pattern on the flanks.

Distribution and habitat

The cubera snapper is found in the western Atlantic Ocean. It occurs from as far north as Nova Scotia and as far south as Santa Catarina in Brazil, being found in throughout the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico and around Bermuda. There is a record from Flores Islands in the Azores. It occurs at depths between . The juveniles shelter within beds of sea grass in inshore watersor in mangroves and have been recorded entering freshwater. The adults move offshore where they inhabit rocky ledge and reef habitats.

Biology

Cubera snapper adults are solitary fish which have a maximum longevity of 55 years.

Feeding

The cubera snapper is the largest species of snapper and is a predatory fish, its main prey being other fishes with some crustaceans. The large canine teeth allow this species to feed on large crustaceans such as lobsters and crabs. They forage near the bottom or in the vicinity of hard structures. The whale shark (''Rhincodon typus'') feeds on the newly laid pelagic spawn of cubera snappers while the larger fish are prey to moray eels, barracudas, groupers, other snappers and sharks.

Reproduction

The cubera snapper spawns from May until August when their gathering into large spawning aggregations is determined by the lunar cycles. They gather in large numbers, up to 10,000 fishes over shallow spawning sites in offshore waters at places such as outer reef slopes and sandy drop offs. The eggs hatch within a day of fertilisation and the larvae are pelagic, drifting with the currents until they settle.

Fisheries and conservation

The cubera snapper is considered to be a good quality food fish, although larger fish in some areas are known to cause ciguatera poisoning in humans who consume their flesh. It is caught using hook-and-line with bottom longlines, gill nets and bottom trawls, and occasionally by spearfishing. In areas where the larger fish are ciguatoxic there may be no fishery, as in Puerto Rico and the Lesser Antilles, or only smaller fish are consumed, as happens in the Florida Keys. In the United States this species is subject to bag and size limits for both commercial and recreational fisheries. The predictable and accessible spawning aggregations of this species make it vulnerable to overfishing and the catch decreased by over 60% off the Atlantic coast of the United States in the 20 years up to 2015 and the numbers spawning off Cuba and Brazil had also decreased. In Brazil there are some stocks which have declined so much that they are commercially extinct. The IUCN predict further declines unless aggregations are protected and listed the species as Vulnerable.

References

External links

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{{Taxonbar, from=Q3242749

Lutjanus
Fish of the Western Atlantic
Fish of the Dominican Republic
Fish of the Caribbean
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot
Fish described in 1828
Taxa named by Georges Cuvier