Blackfin snapper
(Lutjanus buccanella)
Image source: craigjhowe | inaturalist.org
General data
The dorsal fin has 10 spines and 14 soft rays, with a slight incision after the spines, while the anal fin has 3 spines and 8 soft rays.
The maximum total length recorded for this species is 75 cm (30 in) although 50 cm (20 in) is more typical, and the maximum published weight is 14 kg (30.9 lb).
The overall colour of this species is red fading to silvery-red on the abdomen. The caudal, anal and pelvic fins are yellowish. There is an obvious dark comma at the base of the pectoral fins, which gave this fish its most widely accepted common name. The juveniles are resemble the adults but they have a wide vivid yellow patch on the dorsal part of the caudal peduncle.
The blackfin snapper is a species of the western Atlantic Ocean.
Its range extends from Bermuda and North Carolina southwards along the Atlantic coast of the United States to the Bahamas, then west into the Gulf of Mexico from the Florida Keys, the Flower Garden Banks and vicinity to Veracruz, Mexico south to the northern Yucatan Peninsula and northwestern Cuba. It also extends throughout the Caribbean Sea, along the South American coast as far south as Sao Paulo, Brazil.
It occurs over sandy and rocky substrates close to ledges at depths of 60 to 90 m (200 to 300 ft). The adults are found offshore close to the continental shelf, while the juveniles are normally found in rocky outcroppings in the vicinity of reefs in shallower waters at depths between 6 and 18 m (20 and 59 ft).
