''Lutjanus agennes'', the African red snapper, Guinean snapper or African cubera snapper, 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 Lutjanidae, or snappers are a family of perciform fish, mainly marine, but with some members inhabiting estuaries, feeding in fresh water. The family includes about 113 species. Some are important food fish. One of the best known is the red snapp ...

, the snappers. It is native to the coastal

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 ...

waters of

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

Taxonomy

''Lutjanus agennes'' was first formally described in 1863 by the

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

herpetologist Herpetology (from Greek ἑρπετόν ''herpetón'', meaning "reptile" or "creeping animal") is the branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians (including frogs, toads, salamanders, newts, and caecilians (gymnophiona)) and rept ...

and

ichthyologist Ichthyology is the branch of zoology devoted to the study of fish, including bony fish ( Osteichthyes), cartilaginous fish (Chondrichthyes), and jawless fish (Agnatha). According to FishBase, 33,400 species of fish had been described as of Octobe ...

Pieter Bleeker with the type locality given as “Ashantee in Guinea”. Bleeker did not explain the derivation of 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 ...

but it may be from ''agenes'', which means “of low family”, possibly a reference to its similarity to '' L. modestus'', the name ''modestus'' meaning the “modest or unassuming one”. Bleeker also described ''L. modestus'' in 1863 and it is not clear whether this is a

synonym A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are all ...

of this species or '' L. endecacanthus''.

Description

''Lutjanus agennes'' has a relatively deep body with a pointed snout and a rather angular forehead. The mouth extends back to below the centre of the eye. 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 a triangular patch which may have a posterior extension. 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

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 13–14 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 overall colour is reddish brown to slightly orange on the back and upper flanks, shading to pink or whitish on lower flanks and abdomen. The tips of the

pelvic fin Pelvic fins or ventral fins are paired fins located on the ventral surface of fish. The paired pelvic fins are homologous to the hindlimbs of tetrapods. Structure and function Structure In actinopterygians, the pelvic fin consists of two en ...

s are rather darks from there is no blue line on the cheeks. The juveniles are marked with 6 to 8 vertical rows of small white spots or slender bars on their flanks. 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, and the maximum published weight is .

Distribution and habitat

''Lutjanus agennes'' is found in the eastern Atlantic Ocean where it occurs along the western coast of Africa from Senegal to Angola, it also occurs in the

Cape Verde Islands , national_anthem = () , official_languages = Portuguese , national_languages = Cape Verdean Creole , capital = Praia , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , demonym ...

and the islands of the

Gulf of Guinea The Gulf of Guinea is the northeasternmost part of the tropical Atlantic Ocean from Cape Lopez in Gabon, north and west to Cape Palmas in Liberia. The intersection of the Equator and Prime Meridian (zero degrees latitude and longitude) is in the ...

. It occurs from the surface down to , over rock substrates and reefs. It can also be found in brackish lagoons and estuaries, particularly juveniles.

Biology

''Lutjanus agennes'', like other snappers, is predatory and feeds mainly on fishes and crustaceans. This species may form large

spawning Spawn is the eggs and sperm released or deposited into water by aquatic animals. As a verb, ''to spawn'' refers to the process of releasing the eggs and sperm, and the act of both sexes is called spawning. Most aquatic animals, except for aquati ...

aggregations away from the coasts, in the open sea. Larger individuals have been observed by fishermen to congregate in large numbers in areas of rocky reefs to spawn. It is thought that the West African snapper is a long lived species with a lifespan which may exceed 20 years.

Fisheries and conservation

''Lutjanus agennes'' is an important fish for fisheries throughout its range, especially for subsistence fisheries, and it is caught using handlines and fixed bottom nets. The catch is normally sold fresh. It is also caught commercially and the commercial catch is both consumed internally in West Africa, especially in the Gulf of Guinea and Cape Verde. Some of the catch from Ghana and Senegal is exported to Europe. This species is taken in mixed catch fisheries, and no separate catch statistics available. Potential spawning aggregations are thought to be being targeted in at least one part of its range. In spite of the fishing pressure the African red snapper appears to be common, juveniles are not caught throughout the range of this species. There is some evidence of overfishing as the size of the fish caught is declining in some areas. An example of this is in Ghana where the average catch sizes are no greater than . The

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

has listed as

Data Deficient A data deficient (DD) species is one which has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as offering insufficient information for a proper assessment of conservation status to be made. This does not necessaril ...

as there is a paucity of information. They suggest that this species should be carefully monitored, as fishing practices in the region, in conjunction modelling results predict that there has been major reduction in the overall biomass of the stocks of this species, and they suggest that it may qualify to be assessed as

Near Threatened A near-threatened species is a species which has been categorized as "Near Threatened" (NT) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as that may be vulnerable to endangerment in the near future, but it does not currently qualify fo ...

or worse when more data becomes available. It is a quarry species for recreational anglers in some parts of its range.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2233181 agennes Fish of the Atlantic Ocean Fish described in 1863 Taxa named by Pieter Bleeker