Gray snapper, continued 



Table 5.30. Relative abundance of gray snapper in 

 31 Gulf of Mexico estuaries (from Volume t}. 



Relative abundance: 



Highly abundant 



® Abundant 



O Common 



V Rare 



blank Not present 



Life stage: 



A - Adults 

 S - Spawning 

 J - Juveniles 

 L - Larvae 

 E - Eggs 



Life Mode 



Eggs can be considered pelagic and non-adhesive, 

 and occur in offshore waters (Thresher 1984, Shaffer 

 pers. comm.). Larvae whose total length (TL) is under 

 1 mm are planktonic and occur offshore (Bortone and 

 Williams 1 986). Juveniles are pelagic and non-school- 

 ing in early stages; larger juveniles are weak schoolers 

 (Starck 1971, Hardy 1978). Adults are pelagic and 

 demersal, and are often in schools diurnally, dispers- 

 ing by night and moving to inshore grass beds (Croker 

 1 962, Starck and Schroeder 1 971 , Hardy 1 978, NMFS 

 1987, Sogardetal. 1989). 



Habitat 



Type : Eggs are marine, neritic, and demersal (Starck 

 and Schroeder 1 971 ). Larvae are marine, neritic, and 

 planktonic. Their range is not reported, but they are 

 known to occur in offshore shelf waters and near coral 

 reefs. Larvae of Lutjanus species are known to be 

 present in the Gulf of Mexico April through November, 

 with an abundance peak June through August (Ditty et 

 al. 1988). Gray snapper pre-juveniles begin to move 

 into estuarine habitats and have been collected in 

 grass beds (Starck and Schroeder 1971, Richards et 

 al. 1984, Hardy 1978). Juveniles are estuarine, river- 

 ine and marine, and are found in estuaries, channels, 

 bayous, ponds, coastal marshes, mangrove swamps, 

 and freshwater creeks. Older juveniles may move to 

 offshore habitats with adults and can occur as far out 

 as 1 4 km. Juveniles occupy inshore grassy areas until 

 they reach lengths of 80 mm (Croker 1962, Starck 

 1971). They are sometimes associated with areas of 

 swift tidal flow, and, less frequently, will occupy areas 

 around ledges, pilings, jetties, rocks, coral hedges, 

 grass, orgorgonian coral patches (Starckand Schroeder 

 1 971 ; Hardy 1 978). In Florida Bay, they prefer habitats 

 where seagrass density and species diversity is high 

 (Chester and Thayer 1 990). Adults are marine, estua- 

 rine, and riverine. They occur offshore up to 32 km near 

 coral reefs, rock shelves and similar structures, and 

 inshore near ledges of channels and around artificial 

 structures, and in estuaries, mangrove swamps and 

 lagoons. They have also been reported in coastal plain 

 freshwater drainage canals, creeks and rivers, and 

 even from some coastal freshwater lakes. This spe- 

 cies has been reported from depths ranging from to 

 180 m with smaller snapper generally inhabiting shal- 

 lower water than larger snapper (Lee et al. 1980, 

 Bortone and Williams 1 986, Loftus and Kushlan 1 987, 

 Chester and Thayer 1990). 



Substrate : Eggs are typically found in proximity to 

 offshore reefs (Starck and Schroeder 1 971 , Rutherford 

 et al. 1983, Powell et al. 1987). Powell et al. (1987) 

 noted pre-flexion larvae "candidates" over offshore 

 reefs. Lutjanidae larvae have been reported in shelf 

 waters from Florida to Texas. Postflexion larvae and 



229 



