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Also known as:

Largemouth nannygai

Malabar blood snapper

Malabar snapper

large mouthed sea perch

saddletailed sea perch

red snapper

Common Group Name:

Tropical Snappers

Family Name:

Lutjanidae

Genus Name:

Lutjanus

Species Name:

Lutjanus malabaricus


Dispatch Method:

The eating qualities of saddletail snapper can be greatly improved if they are killed humanely by iki jime or a firm knock to the head before placing them in an ice slurry after bleeding.


Fish Description:

  • These fish are a uniform red all over with a distinctive dark saddle blotch on the dorsal surface of the caudal peduncle. The blotch becomes less distinct with age.
  • They otherwise closely resemble crimson snapper (small-mouth nannygai) except that the saddletail snapper has a bigger mouth.
  • This species is most active at night, and is relatively slow growing and long lived. Maximum age is at least 30 years and size at maturity at 8-9 years of age is around 30-35 cm.

Fish Distribution:

  • Saddletail snapper are found near offshore reefs throughout the tropical Indo-Pacific region from the Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea to Fiji, north to southern Japan and south to Australia.
  • In Australia they can be encountered offshore from as far west as Shark Bay in Western Australia across northern Australia to the east coast of Queensland.
  • Juveniles tend to inhabit shallower waters (10-20 meters) closer inshore, while adults tend to be further offshore in waters up to around 100 meters deep.

Fish Size Common Length:

30-50 cm, maximum size around 100 cm and 8 kg.