Gray Snapper, Lutjanus griseus
Gray Snapper, Lutjanus griseus, Juvenile. Fish caught from coastal waters off Caye Ambergris, Belize, June 2013. Length: 15 cm (5.9 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Eli (obsessiveangling.wordpress.com).
Gray Snapper, Lutjanus griseus. Fish caught from brackish water within the freshwater systems of the Indian River Lagoon, Micco, Florida, April 2021. Length: 26 cm (10 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Ben Cantrell, Sebastian, Florida.
Gray Snapper, Lutjanus griseus. Fish caught from coastal waters off Wabasso Beach, Florida, April 2021. Length: 30 cm (12 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Ben Cantrell, Sebastian, Florida.
Gray Snapper, Lutjanus griseus. Commercial fish courtesy of Soriana’s Mercado, San José del Cabo, Baja California Sur, January 2014. Length: 31 cm (12 inches). Sold as “pargo.” Fish identification courtesy of H.J. Walker, Jr., Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, California.
Gray Snapper, Lutjanus griseus. Underwater photograph taken in coastal waters off Bonaire, December 2019. Photograph and identification courtesy of Bob Hillis, Ivins, Utah.
The Gray Snapper, Lutjanus griseus, is a member of the Snapper or Lutjanidae Family, that are also known as the Mangrove Snapper and in Mexico as pargo mulato. Globally, there are sixty-seven in the genus Lutjanus, of which nineteen are found in Mexican waters, ten in the Atlantic and nine in the Pacific Ocean.
The Gray Snapper has an oblong slender body. They vary in color but are generally gray to greenish-brown with red, gray or yellow tinges. Their fins are darker than the body and have white or yellow edges except for the pectoral fins which are transparent. Their scales have orange-brown spots in the center giving the impression that the body is striped. Males and females are indiscernible externally. Juveniles have a black bar that runs from the tip of their snout through their eyes to the upper part of their gill cover and a blue streak on their cheek. They have a straight head profile with a large terminal mouth and a pointed snout. They have very small needle-like teeth and a set of 4 canine teeth in the front of their upper jaw. Their anal fin is rounded and has 3 spines, with the second being the longest, and 7 or 8 rays, with the second spine being longer than the third; their caudal fin is concave; their caudal fin is marginate; their dorsal fin has 10 spines, the fourth being the longest, and 13 to 14 rays; their pectoral fins are short and does not reach the anus; and their pelvic fins have 1 spine and 5 rays. They have 21 to 22 gill rakers on the lower arch. They are covered with small scales.
The Gray Snapper resides in coastal as well as offshore waters from very shallow areas in estuaries around mangrove roots to depths up to 180 m (585 feet) around natural and artificial hard-bottom substrate including rocks, ledges, wrecks, and coral reefs in waters between 13.4oC (56.1oF) and 32.5oC (90.5oF). They are one of the smaller snappers reaching a maximum of 90 cm (2 feet 11 inches) in length and 20 kg (44 lbs) in weight, but they rarely exceed 45 cm (18 inches) in length and almost always weigh less than 4.5 kg (10 lbs). As of March 31, 2023, the International Game Fish Association world record for length stood at 71 cm (2 feet 4 inches) with the fish caught from coastal waters off St. Augustine, Florida in August 2014. The corresponding world record for weight stood at 8.45 kg (18 lbs 10 oz) with the fish caught in coastal waters off Cocodrie, Louisiana in July 2015. They are non-migratory and form large aggregations of similar sized fish during daylight hours. They feed nocturnally traveling some distance from their home habitats and are opportunistic predators of small fish, shrimp, crabs, gastropods, and cephalopods. They are preyed upon by barracuda, moray eels, groupers, jacks, sharks, and other snappers. Juveniles are found in inshore areas which includes estuaries and freshwater streams. They reach sexual maturity at 2 years and are oviparous with individual fish spawning several times a year producing as many as six million eggs during a single spawning event. The eggs are small, pelagic, spherical, transparent, and buoyant, floating on the surface of the water before they hatch within twenty hours of fertilization. They have a lifespans of twenty-four years. The Gray Snapper is poorly studied with very limited information available about their lifestyle and behavioral patterns including specific details on age, growth, longevity, movement patterns, diet, habitat use, and reproduction.
The Gray Snapper is a resident of all Mexican waters of the Atlantic Ocean including the Gulf of Mexico and the east coast of the Yucatán Peninsula in the Caribbean.
The Gray Snapper is most likely confused with the small Cubera Snapper, Lutjanus cyanopterus (large canine teeth) and the Mutton Snapper, Lutjanus analis (black spot on lateral line below rear of dorsal fin).
From a conservation perspective the Gray Snapper is currently considered to be of Least Concern with stable, widely distributed populations. The commercial fishery for the Gray Snapper is limited as the large majority of fish are taken by recreational anglers given that they are a tremendously popular game and food fish. They are strong fighters and normally taken on live shrimp, cut squid, fresh fish strips or bucktail jigs. From a conservation perspective their populations are currently deemed stable. They are regulated at a modest level in the southeast United States. Shrimp trawlers account for a large portion of their mortality due to habitat destruction and discarding of juvenile fish. They have been successfully reared in aquaculture and can be found in commercial aquariums.