MASTERS OF THE WATER-BONY FISHES 237 



orange tints to a plain, pale slate color. This is the only snapper whose fins 

 are all yellowish. The young have a blue bar below the eye from the nostril to 

 the rear edge of the operculum. There is a reddish-brown, barred phase in which 

 the fins are also yellowish. 



Hahits: This is a very abundant and pretty fish. It eats fishes and crustaceans 

 and is commonlv found lurking in inshore coral heads in small schools. Like 

 other snappers, it is wary and nervous in the swimmer's presence. 



Similar Sjjecies: The pargo amarillo or yellowtail snapper, LtUianiis argen- 

 tiventris, is a West Coast species found from Mazatlan southward. It resembles 

 the schoolmaster but is rosy on the front part of the body and yellow to the 

 rear. It reaches 2 feet. 



The spot snapper (lane snapper), Lutiamis synagris is very common from 

 Tampa southward through the West Indies. Identification is made easy 

 by the presence of a large dark spot, larger than the eye, below the juncture 

 of the spiny and soft dorsal fins on the back. Like the schoolmaster, it is a color- 

 ful species. It has vellowish stripes running horizontally on its sides. It reaches 

 only a foot in length. 



RED SNAPPER (pARGO GUACHINANGO, PARGO COLORADO): LutianiiS ajU— 



Color Plate 5 



Size: Averages 20 inches. Up to 3 feet. 



Weight: Averages 5 pounds. Up to 20 pounds. 



Distribution: Gulf of Mexico and the West Indies. A very similar fish, 

 common on the Florida East Coast north to South Carolina and rarely to Cape 

 Cod, has been named as a separate species by some. 



Identification: The color is a pretty rose-red. The anal and soft dorsal fins are 

 angular, not round, and this should separate it from other snappers which have 

 reddish deep-water forms. 



Hahits: This is the most sought after of the snappers for food. It normally 

 lives in fairly deep water of over 100 feet and feeds on fishes and crustaceans. 

 Apparently it schools quite densely off coral banks called "snapper banks." 



Similar Species: Many species of snappers tend to become reddish when they 

 get large or live in deep water. The Colorado snapper or pargo Colorado, 

 Lutiamis Colorado, found in the Gulf of California to Panama, has the angular 

 anal and soft dorsal fins and the reddish color of the red snapper. The silk 

 snapper, Lutianus vivanus, is West Indian and weighs up to 40 pounds. It 

 is red of body, but the tail fin is yellow. 



YELLOWTAIL SNAPPER (rabirubia) : Ocyuriis chrysurus—Color Plate 5 



Size; Up to 2 feet. 



Weight: Averages 1 pound. Lip to 6 pounds. 



Distribution: Southern Florida through the West Indies to Brazil. 



Identification: A very large, forked, yellow tail and a broad yellow stripe from 

 the eye to the tail are distinctive. Above this stripe the pattern is a spotted 

 yellow on a blue ground color, and below the stripe the pattern is one of thin 

 yellow stripes. This coloration is variable, but not as much as in other species 

 of snappers. The anal fin is relatively long. 



Hahits: Contrarv to most snappers, this species is found singly as often as it 



