Red Snapper, Lutjanus campechanus
The Red Snapper pictured here was caught locally on Padre Island, TX, using a hook and line, in February, 2024. All images and graphics © Sara Krebsbach 2024.
A pelagic Gulf of Mexico (GOM) species, the Red Snapper utilizes several habitats throughout their lifetime, from the nearshore environment as larvae and juveniles, to the deep offshore waters and reefs (natural and artificial) as adults. Their morphology reflects their life history and ecological niche, as adults have an oval-sloped body shape that is laterally compressed, with a strong peduncle for fast swimming and quick turns in waters up to 600 feet deep. They have a terminal mouth shape with large canine teeth, indicative of their predatory diet of squid, octopus, fish, and molluscs. As oviparous summer spawners, their large clutches contain millions of pelagic eggs that hatch about 24 hours after fertilization, and the larvae will continue to float in the water column for up to three weeks. The larvae utilize ontogenetic vertical migration during this time, taking advantage of currents and tides to maintain their geographic position and to follow their planktonic prey during their concurrent diurnal vertical migration. Once the larvae grow into juveniles, they settle to inshore habitats where they will feed on zooplankton species as they mature into adults before heading out to the deep.
Universally considered the most controversial fishery in the GOM, their stock numbers are rigorously assessed and subsequent catch limits are updated annually (Cowan et al. 2011). According to a 2018 report by the NGO Monterey Bay Aquarium ‘Seafood Watch’ program, Red Snapper is considered to be a ‘good alternative/yellow’ species based on the fisheries negative implications on other species (bycatch, predator/prey interactions), as well as impacts on its own population and the effectiveness of its management. The category of ‘good alternative/yellow’ is defined as "buy, but be aware there are concerns with how they’re caught.” It is estimated that an individual Red Snapper can live up to 55 years of age, however most of the adult population is 20 years and under because of detrimental fishing practices decades ago (Cowan et al. 2011). While acknowledging that the fishery is indeed improving after decades of efforts by fishery management on a state and federal level, continuing efforts to include the general public and stakeholders is an investment towards the future of the species.
Glossary:
Diurnal Vertical Migration: Vertical movement within the water column concurrent with a 24 hour cycle. Directional movement is dependent on the time of day, with most organisms living beneath the photic zone during the day to avoid predation, and living nearer to the surface of the water column from dust to dawn to follow their food source.
Ecological Niche: An organisms role in a broader complex community. This includes the environment they live in and how they utilize it’s resources, as well as their relationship with other organisms in their environment.
Juvenile: A fish that has not yet reached sexual maturity.
Larva(e): A hatched fish before reaching metamorphoses into a juvenile that does not resemble an adult of the same species. Larval fish species undergo indirect development, as opposed to direct development, where hatched young are born in a juvenile form resembling an adult of the same species.
Morphology: Form and function of an organism (how an organism looks, and how are it’s features to navigate it’s environment and perform biological and physiological processes).
Ontogenetic Vertical Migration: Vertical movement within the water column that is determined by the stage of growth of the organism (as opposed to a diurnal cycle).
Oviparous: Laying eggs in an external environment (outside of the female fish’s body, however, eggs can be fertilized internally or externally).
Peduncle: Area between the insertion of the dorsal and anal fins and the base of the caudal fin.
Planktonic: An organism, “at the whim of the current”, typically drifting with the currents in their environment without the ability to swim against them.
Terminal Mouth Shape: Mouth facing straight forward, with both upper and lower jaws of the same length.
Zooplankton: Microscopic organisms living in the photic zone of the water column.
References:
Cowan, J. H., Grimes, C. B., Patterson, W. F., Walters, C. J., Jones, A. C., Lindberg, W. J., Sheehy, D. J., Pine, W. E., Powers, J. E., Campbell, M. D., Lindeman, K. C., Diamond, S. L., Hilborn, R., Gibson, H. T., & Rose, K. A. (2011). Red snapper management in the Gulf of Mexico: Science- or faith-based? Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries, 21(2), 187–204. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11160-010-9165-7
Hastings, P. A., Walker, H. J., & Galland, G. R. (2014). Fishes: A guide to their diversity. University of California Press.
Helfman, G. S., Collette, B. B., Facey, D. E., & Bowen, B. W. (2023). The diversity of fishes (3rd ed.). Wiley-Blackwell.
Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch ®. Snapper (US). November 5, 2018. https://www.seafoodwatch.org/recommendation/snapper/red-snapper-1836
Ruschenberger, W. S. W., Milne-Edwards, H., & Comté, A. (1846). Elements of Herpetology, and of Ichthyology: Prepared for the Use of Schools and Colleges. Grigg & Elliot.