Fishes - Australian Museum Fish Site

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Blacktail Snapper
Lutjanus fulvus (Bloch & Schneider, 1801)

Blacktail Snapper
A Blacktail Snapper at a depth of 16m, Steve's Bommie, near Ribbon Reef #3, Great Barrier Reef, off Cooktown, December 2001. View larger image.

The Blacktail Snapper has a white-yellow body and a black caudal fin. The front of the dorsal fin is yellow and the soft portion is black. The pectoral, pelvic and anal fins are yellow.

This species grows to 40cm in length.

The Blacktail Snapper inhabits inshore coral reefs and lagoons. It may also enter mangrove areas and the lower reaches of rivers. It prefers areas with deep holes and rocks.

This fish is found at depths from 1m to 75m.

The Blacktail Snapper feeds at night on benthic crustaceans and fishes such as mullets, goatfishes and damselfishes.

It occurs in tropical marine waters of the Indo-West Pacific, from the Red Sea, north to Japan, south to Australia and east to the Tuamoto Islands. It has been introduced in the Hawaiian Islands.

In Australia it is known from the north-western coast of Western Australia, around the tropical north of the country and south to southern New South Wales.

View a map of the collecting localities of specimens in the Australian Museum Fish Collection.

Further reading

  1. Allen, G.R. & Talbot, F.H. (1985). Review of the snappers of the genus Lutjanus (Pisces: Lutjanidae) from the Indo-Pacific, with the description of a new species. Indo-Pacific Fishes 11: 1-87.
  2. Allen, G.R. 1997. Marine Fishes of Tropical Australia and South-east Asia. Western Australian Museum. Pp. 220.
  3. Myers, R.F. 1999. Micronesian Reef Fishes. Coral Graphics. Pp. 330.
  4. Randall, J.E., Allen, G.R. & R.C. Steene. 1997. Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea. Crawford House Press. Pp. 251.
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