Credit: Illustration by Diane Rome Peebles
Family Lutjanidae
Description: color silvery-pink to reddish with short, irregular pink and yellow lines on its sides; diffuse black spot, about as large as the eye; the dorsal fin centered above the lateral line; outer margin of caudal fin blackish
Similar fish: mutton snapper, L. analis (anal fin rounded in lane snapper, pointed in mutton)
Where found: juveniles inshore over grass beds or shallow reefs; adults offshore; most common in south Florida.
Size: usually less than 1 pound
Remarks: spawns March to September, sexually mature at 6 inches; feeds on the bottom, taking crustaceans, mollusks, and fish
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