About Lutjanus lutjanus Bloch, 1790
The bigeye snapper, Lutjanus lutjanus Bloch, 1790, has a fusiform, slender body, with standard length between 2.9 and 3.3 times the length of the body’s deepest point. It has a gently sloped forehead, with weakly developed preopercular incision and knob. Vomerine teeth form a triangular patch with a central rearward extension, and a patch of grain-like teeth is present on the tongue. The dorsal fin has 10 to 12 spines and 12 soft rays, while the anal fin has 3 spines and 8 soft rays. The rear margins of both the dorsal fin and anal fin have an angular profile. The pectoral fins have 16 to 17 rays, and the caudal fin is either truncate or weakly emarginate. This species reaches a maximum total length of 35 cm (14 in). Its upper back is golden-brown, and its flanks are silvery-white. A brown to yellow stripe runs from the snout to the dorsal caudal peduncle. Oblique golden lines sit above the lateral line, and horizontal stripes sit below it. The dorsal, anal, and caudal fins are bright vivid yellow. This bigeye snapper has a wide distribution across the Indo-West Pacific. Its range extends from the Red Sea and eastern African coast south to South Africa and Madagascar, east along the southern Asian coast (including the Seychelles) into the Pacific, where it has been recorded at Tonga and Wallis Island. It reaches as far north as Japan and as far south as Australia. In Australian waters, it has been recorded from the coasts of north-western Western Australia, around the tropical northern coast, to the northern coast of Queensland. It occurs at depths between 1 m and 96 m (3 ft 3 in to 315 ft 0 in), inhabiting coral reef areas and inshore waters with soft substrates.
