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Bigeye Snapper
Lutjanus lutjanus Bloch, 1790
A Bigeye Snapper at a depth of 12 m Agincourt Reef, Great Barrier Reef off Port Douglas, Queensland, June 2002. Photo © Erik Schlögl. View larger image.
A school of Bigeye Snapper at a depth of 12 m Agincourt Reef, Great Barrier Reef off Port Douglas, Queensland, June 2002. Photo © Erik Schlögl. View larger image.
Above and below: A school of Bigeye Snapper at a depth of 18 m, Steve's Bommie, Great Barrier Reef, Queensland, March 2005. Photo © D. Harasti. View larger image.
The Bigeye Snapper is a moderately elongate, compressed fish. As its common name implies, it has very large eyes. The diameter of the eye is greater than the distance between the eye and upper jaw.
This species has a brown to yellow stripe from the snout to the upper caudal peduncle. It has diagonal golden lines following the scale rows above the lateral line and horizontal stripes below. The fins are yellow.
The Bigeye Snapper grows to 30 cm in length.
It is a schooling species that is found on coral reefs and inshore areas to depths of 90 m. It occurs in tropical marine waters of the Indo-West Pacific.
In Australia it is known from off north-western Western Australia, around the tropical north of the country and south to the northern coast of Queensland.
View a map of the collecting localities of specimens in the Australian Museum Fish Collection.
The Bigeye Snapper has also been called the Bigeye Seaperch.
Related links
- Five-line Snapper fact sheet
- Blacktail Snapper fact sheet
- Humpback Snapper fact sheet
- Red Bass fact sheet
- View the Coral Snappers list
Further reading
- Allen, G.R. 1985. Snappers of the World. An Annotated and Illustrated Catalogue of Lutjanid Species known to Date. FAO Species Catalogue. Vol. 6. FAO. Rome. Pp. 208, Pl. I-XXVII.
- Anderson, W.D. & G.R. Allen. 2001. Lutjanidae. in Carpenter, K.E. & V.H. Niem (Eds). FAO Species Identification Guide for Fishery Purposes. The Living Marine Resources of the Western Central Pacific. Volume 5. Bony fishes part 3 (Menidae to Pomacentridae). FAO, Rome. Pp. iii-iv, 2791-3379.
- Randall, J.E., Allen, G.R. & R.C. Steene. 1997. Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea. Crawford House Press. Pp. 557.
- Sainsbury, K.J., Kailola, P.J., & G.G. Leyland. 1985. Continental Shelf Fishes of northern and northwestern Australia. An illustrated Guide. CSIRO Division of Fisheries Research. Pp. 375.
