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.