Range and Identity
Lutjanus apodus is a western Atlantic snapper. Range summaries include occasional northern records as well as tropical populations, but an isolated occurrence is not evidence of equal abundance throughout that span. Its identity should remain separate from other similarly colored snappers.
Habitat and Behavior
Adults occupy warm, clear shallow water near coral and gorgonian shelter. Young use sandy or muddy lagoon bottoms, sometimes with seagrass, and may enter brackish water. Resting groups can form during daylight, so a daytime aggregation does not necessarily represent active feeding.
Food and Life History
The upper length reference is 79.1 centimeters fork length. Recorded foods include fishes, shrimp, crabs, worms, gastropods and cephalopods. A common-size figure expressed as total length should not be treated as directly interchangeable with the fork-length maximum.
Field Note
Note coral cover, mangrove setting and life stage when documenting this snapper. Those observations help explain the different coastal habitats used during its growth.
All Lakes With Schoolmaster Snapper
Browse all lakes and reservoirs with confirmed Schoolmaster Snapper records in our database, listed alphabetically.
No published lakes are currently linked to this species in our confirmed records.