
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.