The Snook Family – Centropomidae

Snook Family  – Centropomidae

There are currently SEVEN members of the Snook or Centropomidae Family, three from the Atlantic Ocean and four from the Pacific Ocean,  presented in this website:

FROM THE ATLANTIC (3):

FROM THE PACIFIC (4):

The fish of the Snook or Centropomidae Family are a group of shovel-nosed fish known in Mexico’s fishing areas as robalos. There are 23 global members of the Snook Family that have been placed in 2 genera. They and found in the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans. Six reside in Mexican waters of the Atlantic and 6 in Mexican waters of the Pacific Ocean. They range from 35 cm (14 inches) to 1.40 m (4 feet 7 inches) in length and from 1 kg (2.2 lbs) to 26 kg (57 lbs) in weight. They are believed to date to the early Eocene Period, 55,000,000 years ago.

The Snook is a medium-sized, unique-looking, and easy-to-identify silvery perch-like fish. They have an oblong elongated compressed body with a concave head profile and a large protractile mouth with a protruding lower jaw. Their anal fins have 3 spines and 5 to 8 rays with a short base; their caudal fin is forked; their first dorsal fin has 8 spines; their second dorsal fin has 8 to 11 rays; and, their pelvic fins have 1 spine and 5 rays and are inserted just behind their pectoral fin base. They feature a characteristic prominent dark lateral line that extends into their caudal fin. They have large scales at the base of their pelvic fins.

The Snooks are a euryhaline (capable of adapting to various salinities) species found in a variety of habitats ranging from coral reefs to mangrove swamps and are also found in estuaries and freshwater streams. They are carnivores feeding on a wide variety of invertebrates and fish. Many Snooks are important as commercial food fish and as gamefish being a favorite target of fly fishermen.

Six Atlantic and 6 Pacific Snook species are currently recognized scientifically. Of these 12 species, only 4 are known to reach sizes in excess of 10 lbs. The 8 smaller Snook species are usually less than 6 lbs and can be readily distinguished from the larger species by their noticeably longer anal spine, anal fin configuration, and body shape. The larger Snooks species have more streamlined appearances with longer and narrower body shapes. Gill raker counts are needed to correctly separate the 2 large Atlantic Snooks (Common Snook, Centropomus undecimalis and Mexican Snook, Centropomus poeyi). The large Pacific Snooks (Black Snook, Centropomus nigrescens and White Snook, Centropomus viridis) are somewhat easier to distinguish.