Marshall Islands Snappers (Lutjanidae)

Snappers make up a conspicuous portion of the fish life on most reefs at Kwaj. Generally medium to large in size, some are schooling, their large numbers making them even mnore obvious. Members of the family are carnivorous, often on crustaceans but some on fish. Therefore, they can at times cause ciguatera poisoning if eaten by humans. Unless otherwise noted, sizes given are maximum sizes for the species listed in Fishbase, not necessarily the size of the figured specimen.


Aphareus furca


Aphareus rutilans

Aprion virescens

Lutjanus bohar

Lutjanus ehrenbergi

Lutjanus ehrenbergi

Lutjanus fulvus

Lutjanus gibbus

Lutjanus kasmira

Lutjanus monostigma

Lutjanus semicinctus

Lutjanus vitta

Macolor macularis

Macolor macularis

Macolor macularis

Macolor niger

Macolor niger

Macolor niger

Paracaesio sordida

There are a few other snappers we have not personally seen but which have been reported from the Marshalls. Most of the reports were from Randall et al (2005) and many were from the specimens in markets of fish often caught by deeper water bottom fishing. These include (links to Fishbase):

Lutjanus rufolineatus (Valenciennes, 1830)
Paracaesio xanthura (Bleeker, 1869)
Pristipomoides auricilla (Jordan, Evermann & Tanaka, 1927)
Pristipomoides filamentosus (Valenciennes, 1830)
Pristipomoides zonatus (Valenciennes, 1830)
Randallichthys filamentosus (Fourmanoir, 1970)

Randall, John E., Robert F. Myers, Michael N. Trevor, Scott R. Johnson, Jeanette L. Johnson, Satoshi Yoshii, & Brian D. Greene. 2005. Ninety-one new records of fishes from the Marshall Islands. Aqua 9(3):115-132.

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