Atlantic Red Snapper, Lutjanus campechanus

Atlantic Red Snapper, Lutjanus campechanus, Juvenile. Fish caught from coastal waters off Long Island, New York, September 2023. Length: 12.4 cm (4.9 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Aidan Perkins, Long Island, New York.

Atlantic Red Snapper, Lutjanus campechanus. Fish caught from waters of the Florida Middle Grounds, March 2016. Length: 46 cm (18 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of George Brinkman, Guelph, Ontario, Canada.

Atlantic Red Snapper, Lutjanus campechanus. Fish caught from waters of Galveston, Texas, October 2013. Length: 51 cm (20 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Eli (obsessiveangling.wordpress.com).

The Atlantic Red Snapper, Lutjanus campechanus, is a member of the Snapper or Lutjanidae Family, that is also known as the Northern Red Snapper and and in Mexico as huachinango del Gulfo. The Southern Red Snapper, Lutjanus purpureus, has very recently been determined to be one and the same species and they have been consolidated into this species. Globally, there are sixty-seven species in the genus Lutjanus, of which nineteen are found in Mexican waters, ten in the Atlantic and nine in the Pacific Ocean.

The Atlantic Red Snapper has an oval body with a sloped profile and has a uniform reddish-pink-silvery sheen that is whitish dorsally. Their body is wider than the Pacific Red Snapper, Lutjanus peru (37% to 41% versus 33% to 37%). Their fins have a similar uniform color as the body. The juveniles have a dark spot on their upper side below the rear of their dorsal fin (as pictured above). They have a large head with small red eyes, needle-like teeth, and a pointed snout. Their anal fin has 3 spines and 8 or 9 rays and tapers posteriorly; their caudal fin is slightly concave; their dorsal fin has 10 spines and 13 to 15 rays; their pectoral fins have 14 to 18 rays and are long, reaching their anus; and, their pelvic fins have 1 spine and 5 rays. They have 6 to 8 gill rakers on the upper arch and 14 to 16 gill rakers on the lower arch. Their body is covered with medium to large scales.

The Atlantic Red Snapper is a schooling species normally found offshore near the bottom on the continental shelf, over deep reefs, banks, rocky bottoms, and around artificial structures at depths between 11 m (33 feet) and 190 m (620 feet). Older and larger fish are found in deeper locations, seeking cover in ledges, rocky outcroppings, and wrecks. During colder water periods they move further offshore. They reach a maximum of 1.00 m (3 feet 3 inches) in length and 23 kg (50 lbs) in weight. As of January 1, 2024, the International Game Fish Association world record for length stood at 88 cm (2 feet 11 inches) with the fish caught from coastal waters off Texas in September 2011. The corresponding world record for weight stood at 22.79 kg (50 lbs 4 oz) with the fish caught in coastal waters off Louisiana in June 1996. They feed on crabs, mollusks, octopus, shrimp, and small fish. In turn they are preyed upon by jacks, groupers, and sharks. It is believed that the decline in Red Snapper populations has had a significant impact on the populations of these larger fish as well. They reach sexual maturity at two years and grow approximately four inches per year for the first six years followed by a generally declining growth rate thereafter. They are oviparous with individual fish spawning several times a year, producing as many as 9,000,000 eggs during a single spawning event. The eggs are pelagic, spherical, transparent, and buoyant; they float on the surface of the water before hatching within twenty and twenty-seven hours after fertilization. They have lifespans of up to fifty-seven years.

The Atlantic Red 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 Atlantic Red Snapper is most likely confused with the Blackfin Snapper, Lutjanus buccanella (distinctive black spot at pectoral fin base).

From a conservation perspective the Atlantic Red Snapper is currently considered to be of Least Concern with stable, widely distributed populations. This species has been significantly overfished with the amounts and sizes of individual fish now in significant decline. They are now the focus of conversation which is having a positive effect. The shrimp industry has had a major impact on the population declines due to habitat destruction and of young fish caught in shrimp trawls. Discarded juvenile Atlantic Red Snappers by the shrimp industry are estimated to be on the level of 300,000 fish annually which have a 90% mortality rate. The United States Government has recently established catch limits, however, global support for conservation is limited. Various regulations to try to save this species have been recently implemented including the establishment of daily catch limits, size limits, commercial quotas, gear restrictions, seasonal area closures, closure to trawlers and long-line fishermen, and enhanced scientific monitoring of stock status. An effort to enhance the population via aquaculture in the southern United States is currently ongoing. They are a popular game fish, highly prized food fish, and an essential export product of Mexico commanding high prices. They are sold commercially as “Red Snapper” with a high possibility of dreaded Tilapia being substituted. They are caught at equal levels by recreational and commercial fishermen via traditional deep water 50-pound class gear with heavily weighted multiple hooks rigs or via Mexican pangueros using hand lines on live and cut bait and artificial lures; they are also taken at a small level by spear fishermen around natural and artificial structures. Annual recreational catches are on the level of 1,500,000 to 4,000,000 fish.

Note: this fish, on occasion will show up in the fresh fish section of many of the major supermarkets in the greater Los Cabos area, Baja California Sur, marketed as “Huachinango del Gulfo“.  They are always “old,” beat to hell with the color badly faded, and of very poor quality and sold at high prices as they have been transported from the East Coast.