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Lutjanus argentiventris

Amarillo Snapper
Collection Details

Specimens

Photos

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Records

Taxonomic Hierarchy

Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes) Perciformes (Perciformes, Also Called the Acanthopteri) Lutjanidae (Snappers) Lutjanus Lutjanus argentiventris (Amarillo Snapper)

Description

This species account was compiled from FishBase (Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2025. FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. www.fishbase.org, version 04/2025.) and processed using AI-assisted text extraction. It may contain errors in spelling, punctuation, or formatting. When citing, please reference the original source rather than this page. Learn more about our species accounts.

Characters

Body shape: fusiform / normal. Forehead slopes steeply; snout somewhat pointed. Preopercular notch and knob weak. Scale rows on back parallel with lateral line. Rosy red anteriorly, becoming bright orange to yellow over most of the body; the fins are mainly yellow or orange; the inside of the mouth is white; a bluish horizontal streak runs below the eye. Striking features: none.

Distribution

Eastern Pacific: southern California to Peru, rare north of Baja California, Mexico; also at the Cocos and Galapagos islands.

Habitat Associations

Brackish, marine. reef-associated. depth range 3-60 m. Found in: coral reefs.

Biology

Found in inshore reef areas over hard bottoms until at least 60 m depth (Ref. 9313). Tolerant to freshwaters (Ref. 36880). Form aggregations during daylight and shelter as solitary fish in caverns. Feed on fishes, shrimps, crabs and mollusks. Marketed fresh or frozen (Ref. 9313).
Max length: 71.0 cm TL; max weight: 12980 g.
Reproductive mode: dioecism; fertilization: external; nonguarders (open water/substratum egg scatterers); parental care: none.
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2007-05-23. Resilience: Low (K=0.15;).

Commercial or Environmental Importance

Fisheries: commercial; gamefish; aquaculture: experimental.

References

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.
Allen, G.R. (1995) Lutjanidae. Pargos. p. 1231-1244. In W. Fischer, F. Krupp, W. Schneider, C. Sommer, K.E. Carpenter and V. Niem (eds.) Guia FAO para Identification de Especies para lo Fines de la Pesca. Pacifico Centro-Oriental. 3 Vols. FAO, Rome.
IGFA (2001) Database of IGFA angling records until 2001. IGFA, Fort Lauderdale, USA.

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