Lutjanus apodus
Schoolmaster
Collection Details
Specimens
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Perciformes (Perciformes, Also Called the Acanthopteri)
Lutjanidae (Snappers)
Lutjanus
Lutjanus apodus (Schoolmaster)
Description
This species account was compiled from
Composite (multiple sources) (McEachran, J.D. and J.D. Fechhelm. Fishes of the Gulf of Mexico. University of Texas Press, Austin.)
and processed using AI-assisted text extraction.
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Characters
Pair of enlarged canines in upper jaw, rounded anal fin, narrow bars on side, convex interorbital space, maxilla extends to anterior margin of orbit, upper jaw with outer row of canine teeth and inner row of villiform teeth, lower jaw with outer row of large teeth including canines and inner row of villiform teeth, vomerine teeth in V-shaped or crescentic patch with posteromedial extension, preoperculum with serrated posterior margin and corner, gill rakers on first arch 5-7 on upper limb and 11-15 on lower limb, head length 40%-42% SL, snout length 16%-17% SL, eye diameter 8%-10% SL, upper jaw length 15%-16% SL, pectoral fin length 29%-33% SL, body depth 36%-43% SL, pectoral fin with 16 or 17 rays, dorsal fin shallowly notched with 10 spines and 14 rays, anal fin rounded with 8 rays, caudal fin slightly emarginate to truncate, tubed lateral line scales 40-45, scale rows on anterior section of back parallel to lateral line, scale rows of cheek number five
Olive gray to brownish on upper half of body with eight narrow, pale vertical bars on flank, whitish with reddish cast on remainder of body, solid or broken blue line under eye from upper jaw to posterior margin of operculum, bars and blue line may disappear with growth
Distribution
Tropical to warm temperate Atlantic, western Atlantic from Massachusetts and Bermuda to northeastern Brazil
Gulf of Mexico
Habitat Associations
Shallow coastal waters over various bottom types, depth range not specified
Brackish water for juveniles
Biology
Polychaetes, gastropods, cephalopods, shrimps, crabs, and ray-finned fishes, feeding mostly at night
Maximum known size 620 mm SL
Adults occur in shallow, clear, warm, coastal waters over coral reefs. Often near the shelter of elkhorn corals and gorgonians (Ref. 9710). Juveniles are encountered over sand bottoms with or without seagrass (Thalassia), and over muddy bottoms of lagoons or mangrove areas. Young sometimes enter brackish waters. Sometimes form resting aggregations during the day. Feed on fishes, shrimps, crabs, worms, gastropods and cephalopods. Considered a good food fish, it is marketed fresh or frozen (Ref. 55). Maximum length for female taken from Ref. 3093.
Reproductive mode: dioecism; fertilization: external; nonguarders (open water/substratum egg scatterers); parental care: none.
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2015-10-10. Resilience: Low (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: commercial; gamefish.
References
Longley and Hildebrand 1941
Böhlke and Chaplin 1968
Randall 1968a
Randall 1996
Hoese and Moore 1977
Hoese and Moore 1998
Allen 1985
Robins and Ray 1986
Boschung 1992
Cervigón 1993b
Schaldach et al. 1997
Smith 1997
Castro-Aguirre et al. 1999
Smith-Vaniz et al. 1999
Anderson 2002c
Randall, J.E. (1967) Food habits of reef fishes of the West Indies. Stud. Trop. Oceanogr. Miami 5:665-847.
Allen, G.R. (1985) FAO Species Catalogue. Vol. 6. Snappers of the world. An annotated and illustrated catalogue of lutjanid species known to date. FAO Fish. Synop. 125(6):208 p. Rome: FAO.
Breder, C.M. and D.E. Rosen (1966) Modes of reproduction in fishes. T.F.H. Publications, Neptune City, New Jersey. 941 p.
Cervigón, F. (1993) Los peces marinos de Venezuela. Volume 2. Fundación Científica Los Roques, Caracas,Venezuela. 497 p.
Randall, J.E. (1996) Caribbean reef fishes. Third Edition - revised and enlarged. T.F.H. Publications, Inc. Ltd., Hong Kong. 3nd ed. 368 p.
Smith, C.L. (1997) National Audubon Society field guide to tropical marine fishes of the Caribbean, the Gulf of Mexico, Florida, the Bahamas, and Bermuda. Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., New York. 720 p.
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