SNAPPERS
LUTJANIDAE
Dog Snapper
Lutjanus jocu
    Ecological Descriptors
Habitat Size Diet Behaviour Sex 
R, S 1.2m Pisc,  Cru, Mol I (Sh) F
 
 
Description:
Adult: Back and upper sides olive, with a bronze tint, sometimes with pale bars and reddish to coppery below. There is a
pale triangle under eye. Also with a blue line or series of blue spots below eye and across operclum.
Juvenile: More strongly colored than adult, with a dark obligue stripe from snout through eye to top corner of operculum.


Ecology
Adults occur around rocky or coral reefs to depths of 5 to 60m (or more in some areas), often occurring between 5 and 30m.  It is not commonly seen in shallower waters except small juveniles. This species feeds mainly on fishes and benthic invertebrates, including shrimps, crabs, gastropods and cephalopods.

Life Cycle:
Longevity has been estimated to be between 9 and 16 years. The age of maturity is between 1 to 6 years.

Forming spawning aggregations around March. Eggs and sperm are released in water currents, fertilised eggs are unsupervised by parents, eventually hatching larvae vunerable to other organisms as they are exposed and defenceless until they grow into juveniles and seek a sheltered habitat.
Dog Snapper
(C) Carlos& Allison Estape
Dog Snapper
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