Mutton Snapper
Lutjanus analis
Actinopterygii
NEAR THREATENED
Stats
- Lifespan
- Up to 40 yrs
- Size
- Medium
- Diet
- Carnivore
- Activity
- Diurnal
- Social
- School
- Biome
- Coral reef
- Range
- Western Atlantic
- Movement
- Swimming
- Breeding
- Egg-laying
- Defense
- Speed
- Status
- Near Threatened
About
The mutton snapper is a reef-associated fish of the western Atlantic prized for its olive-green back and rosy-pink flanks, with a distinctive black spot below the dorsal fin and a bright blue line beneath each eye. It forms large spawning aggregations at predictable full-moon sites, a behavior that has made it especially vulnerable to overfishing.
Life cycle
- 1.hatchling fryA tiny fry hatches with a yolk sac and begins free-swimming once the sac is absorbed.
- 2.juvenileA juvenile takes on adult body shape and feeds on small prey, often in nursery waters.
- 3.adultFully grown at adult size and coloration.
Learn more
Taxonomy
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Actinopterygii
- Order
- Acanthuriformes
- Family
- Lutjanidae
- Genus
- Lutjanus
- Species
- Lutjanus analis