''Lutjanus fulviflamma'', the dory snapper, blackspot snapper, black-spot sea perch, finger-mark bream, long-spot snapper, Moses perch or red bream, 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 marine

ray-finned fish Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fishes, is a class of bony fish. They comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species. The ray-finned fishes are so called because their fins are webs of skin supported by bony or hor ...

belonging to the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Lutjanidae, the snappers. It has a wide

Indo-Pacific The Indo-Pacific is a vast biogeographic region of Earth. In a narrow sense, sometimes known as the Indo-West Pacific or Indo-Pacific Asia, it comprises the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean, the western and central Pacific Ocean, and the ...

distribution.

Taxonomy

''Lutjanus fulviflamma'' was first formally described in 1775 as ''Sciaena fulviflamma'' by the

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

speaking Finnish born explorer and naturalist Peter Forsskål with the type locality given as the Red Sea. The specific name, ''fulviflamma'', is a compound of ''fulvus'' which means “brownish yellow”, although it is frequently used to mean just yellow, and ''flamma'' which means “fire”. The name was not explained but may be a reference to the vivid yellow upper body and tail which is visible on some individuals.

Description

''Lutjanus fulviflamma'' has a body which varies in shape from moderately deep to relatively slender with a

standard length Fish measurement is the measuring of individual fish and various parts of their anatomies. These data are used in many areas of ichthyology, including taxonomy and fisheries biology. Overall length * Standard length (SL) is the length of a fish m ...

which is 2.5 to 2.9 times its depth, with a head which is not very steeply sloped. The incision and the knob 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 not well developed. 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 ...

may be arranged in a triangular patch with a posterior extension or in a rhombus and there is a patch of grain-like teeth on the tongue. 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 ...

has 10 spines and 12-14 soft rays while 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 ...

contains 3 spines and 8 soft rays. The rear part of the dorsal and anal fins vary in shape from rounded to rather angular. The

pectoral 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 ...

s contain 15 to 17 rays and the

caudal 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 ...

can be truncate or slightly

emarginate The following is a list of terms which are used to describe leaf morphology in the description and taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (a single leaf blade or lamina) or compound (with several leaflets). The edge of the leaf may be regular o ...

. This fish attains a maximum

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

of , although is more typical. This snapper has a pale coloured body marked with 5-7 narrow yellow horizontal stripes of equal width on the flanks, the longest of these extends through the eye on to the snout. There is a quadrilateral black spot on the

lateral line The lateral line, also called the lateral line organ (LLO), is a system of sensory organs found in fish, used to detect movement, vibration, and pressure gradients in the surrounding water. The sensory ability is achieved via modified epithelial ...

three-quarters of the distance between the head and the caudal fin.

Distribution and habitat

''Lutjanus fulviflamma'' has a wide Indo Pacific distribution. It occurs in the

Red Sea The Red Sea ( ar, البحر الأحمر - بحر القلزم, translit=Modern: al-Baḥr al-ʾAḥmar, Medieval: Baḥr al-Qulzum; or ; Coptic: ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϩⲁϩ ''Phiom Enhah'' or ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϣⲁⲣⲓ ''Phiom ǹšari''; T ...

from the Gulf of Suez and Gulf of Aqaba south along the eastern African coast as far south as eastern South Africa and eastwards through the Indian Ocean, including the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Persis, Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a Mediterranean sea (oceanography), me ...

, into the Pacific Ocean as far easy as Samoa. They reach as far north as the

Ryukyu Islands The , also known as the or the , are a chain of Japanese islands that stretch southwest from Kyushu to Taiwan: the Ōsumi, Tokara, Amami, Okinawa, and Sakishima Islands (further divided into the Miyako and Yaeyama Islands), with Yonaguni ...

of southern Japan and south to northern Australia. There is also a single record from the Mediterranean Sea, from Malta,Atlas of Exotic Fishes in the Mediterranean Sea (Lutjanus fulviflamma). 2nd Edition. 2021. 366p. CIESM Publishers, Paris, Monaco.https://ciesm.org/atlas/fishes_2nd_edition/Lutjanus_fulviflamma.pdf which had an eastern African origin as

phylogenetic In biology, phylogenetics (; from Greek φυλή/ φῦλον [] "tribe, clan, race", and wikt:γενετικός, γενετικός [] "origin, source, birth") is the study of the evolutionary history and relationships among or within groups o ...

analysis showed. They occur at depths between and in a number of different habitats with the juvenils occasionally frequenting in brackish lagoons and estuaries while the adults normally form schools over coral reefs and in deeper lagoons.

Biology

''Lutjanus fulviflamma'' frequently forms large mixed species schools with the

bluestripe snapper The common bluestripe snapper (''Lutjanus kasmira''), bluestripe snapper, bluebanded snapper, bluestripe sea perch, fourline snapper, blue-line snapper or moonlighter, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a snapper belonging to the family Lut ...

(''Lutjanus kasmira'') and the bigeye snapper (''Lutjanus lutjanus'') as adults. They are predators which feed on fishes and crustaceans. Off eastern Africa and

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spawning takes place in the Spring and Summer from August to March. In the western Indian Ocean there is an extended spawning period from November and December to April and May. They are discontinuous spawners in which the females lay between 51,000 and 460,000 eggs in batches during a season, although batch sizes have yet to be ascertained.

Fisheries

Lutjanus fulviflamma is a common target species for subsistence fisheries and frequently appears in fish markets, typically fresh. It is caught mostly with handlines, traps and gill nets. In the Persian Gulf this species is particularly important in

Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi (, ; ar, أَبُو ظَبْيٍ ' ) is the capital and second-most populous city (after Dubai) of the United Arab Emirates. It is also the capital of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the centre of the Abu Dhabi Metropolitan Area. ...

as part of the Emirates coastal demersal fishery and is taken utilising intertidal fence nets and dome shaped wire traps. The dory snapper is also targeted as an important commercial quarry in the inshore waters of Tanzania.

References

External links

Itis.org

Animaldiversity Web

WoRMS
* fulviflamma Fish of the Indian Ocean Fish of the Red Sea Marine fauna of East Africa Marine fish of Australia Fish described in 1775 Taxa named by Peter Forsskål {{Perciformes-stub