Queen Snapper, Etelis oculatus
Queen Snapper, Etelis oculatus. Fish caught from waters off Pulley Ridge, 100 miles west of the Tortugas Ecological Reserve, Florida Keys, August 2019. Length: 86 cm (2 feet 10 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of George Brinkman, Guelph, Ontario, Canada.
The Queen Snapper, Etelis oculatus, is a member of the Snapper or Lutjanidae Family, that is also known as the Blear-eyed Snapper and in Mexico as pargo cachucho. Globally, there are four species of the genus Etelis, and only one is found in Mexican waters, this species from the Atlantic Ocean.
The Queen Snapper has an elongated fusiform body with a flattened space between their eyes. They have a reddish deep pink back and upper sides that becomes lighter ventrally. Their fins are pink, except for the first dorsal and the caudal fin which is brilliant red. They have large yellow eyes with a red iris. Their head is small with a short snout and a moderately protrusible upper jaw this is equipped with small conical teeth with 1 or 2 pairs of canines at the front and a patch of teeth on the roof of the mouth. Their anal fin has 3 spines and 8 rays; their caudal fin is deeply forked and elongates with maturity; their first dorsal fin has 10 spines; their second dorsal fin has 10 or 11 rays; and, their pectoral fins are long and pointed with 15 to 17 rays. The last ray of both the anal and dorsal fin are the longest. They have 23 to 28 gill rakers on the first arch, 7 to 11 on the upper limb and 16 to 18 on the lower limb. They are covered with mid-sized scales with the scales on the back running parallel with the lateral line.
The Queen Snapper reside in deep water over rocky bottoms at depths between 100 m (328 feet) and 490 m (1,607 feet). Juveniles are known to be found suspended at mid-depths. They reach a maximum of 95 cm (3 feet 1 inch) in length and 5.3 kg (11 lbs 11 oz) in weight. They are bathydemersal moving to deepwater reefs and rocky ledges forming large schools as they mature. They feed on crustaceans, small fish and squid. In general they are fast growing, mature early and have life spans of up to eight years. The Queen 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 Queen Snapper is a resident of all Mexican waters of the Atlantic Ocean including the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean.
From a conservation perspective the Queen Snapper is currently considered to be Data Deficient. Their status determination is hampered by population and landing data. They are fished commercially throughout their range being caught with hand lines, longlines and traps. They are subject to barotrauma suffering irreversible damage on the assent from deep water, and the majority cannot return to their deep-water habitat and die. As they are heavily targeted most certainly their populations are in decline in certain areas. The juveniles are also taken as a by-catch in trawl fisheries. They are considered to be an excellent food fish and are marketed fresh and frozen.