Snappers & Grunts

Group 3: Sloping Head / Tapered Body

Snapper & Grunt

Group 3 - Sloping Head / Tapered Body : This third group of “fish-like” fish, are common on most dives and are also highly sought after as food fish. It is especially important to monitor these fish to provide data for fisheries management. Snappers can be very difficult to tell apart from the similarly shaped grunts. One helpful hint is to look at their tails. Snappers tend to have straight, flat tails. They are also known for their habit of snapping their mouth open and shut when caught on hook and line. They have very sharp canine teeth that can provide a nasty bite to the unsuspecting angler. Look closely on your next dive and you may see the small teeth protruding from the side of the mouth. Grunts on the other hand, have slightly notched tails. They get their name from the grunting sounds they emit when threatened. These sounds are created by rubbing together bony teeth plates located in the back of the throat. Since the teeth are in the throat, a diver will never see protruding teeth on a grunt, only big blubbery fish lips.

Barred Pargo (pargo coconaco, Hoplopagrus guntherii)

The barred pargo is a
fairly large member of the snapper family. Generally found alone, this grunt is easily identified by the thick, separated bars on its body. Pargo is the Spanish name for the snapper family and this would be the barred snapper if translated to English. (Size 1-2 feet, max. 2.5 ft)

Blue and Gold Snapper (pargo rayado, Lutjanus viridis)

Blue striped snappers are very easy to identify with their obvious striped markings. Generally found in the lower Gulf and islands, these snapper often drift in small groups around mid- depth outcroppings and overhangs. (Size 6-10”, max 12”)

Pacific Dog Snapper (pargo prieto, Lutjanus novemfasciatus)

The dog snapper is one of the larger snappers found in the gulf, reaching a size of up to 3 feet or more. Large heavy jaws and faint body bars across the back are good id keys. Think of them as fence posts – the dog is behind the fence. This snapper is also generally more wary than other small snappers, possibly due to heavy fishing
pressure. (Size 1.25-2.2.5 feet, max. 3.5 ft)

Yellow Snapper (pargo amarillo, Lutjanus argentiventris)

Maybe the most
common member of the snapper family found in the Gulf of California, the yellow snapper gets its name from the bright yellow rear end. Reaching a size of 2 feet this snapper is generally more abundant and colorful than the dog snapper. (Size 1-1.5 feet, max 2 ft)

Graybar Grunt (burro almejera, Haemulon sexfasciatum)

The graybar grunt
could be confused with a dog snapper because of its body markings. However, we know it is not a snapper because of its notched tail. It has solid gray bars down the body with a few dusky spots around its face. It is often found over sand. (Size 6-10”, max 12”)

Wavyline Grunt (rayadillo, Microlepidotus inornatus)

The next three members of the grunt family are all about 1 foot in length and have somewhat streamlined bodies and bland coloration. They can also mix together in small to medium sized schools, but can be distinguished by key characteristics. The thin wavy lines on are a key to identifying the wavyline grunt.(Max. size 18”)

Spottail Grunt (ronco soldadito, Haemulon maculicauda)

The next two grunts can be identified by their tails and the arrangement of the white spots on their bodies. The spottail grunt has a dark spot on a clear tail and the white spots are arranged in horizontal rows. (Max. size 9”)

Cortez Grunt (burro de Cortes, Haemulon flaviguttatum)

The similar appearing Cortez grunt also has a dark spot, but yellowish tail and fins. Think that the sun shines yellow on the Sea of Cortez. The white spots are arranged in oblique (diagonal) rows (like the rays of the sunshine). **In this image, only the fish in the center is actually a Cortez grunt, the others are all spottail grunts. (Max. size 18”)

Golden Snapper (Lutjanus inermis )

Snout very pointed. Mouth relatively small, the maxilla extending to front of eye. Eyes large, about 4 times in head length. Preopercular notch and knob weak. Scale rows on back rising obliquely above lateral line.

Panamic Porkfish (Anisotremus taeniatus )

Bright yellow, high body with a steep head profile, 5-7 bright blue stripes along body, oblique black/brown bar from nape though eye and another from start of dorsal fin to base of pectoral fin. Juveniles white with a yellow head and back, large round black spot on tail base, and two black stripes along body, each with a blue line above and below. Often found near walls and drop offs.

Spotted Rose Snapper (Lutjanus guttatus )

Silvery with slight reddish tint on fins and body, yellow belly, uneven yellow broken lines from snout to tail, becoming oblique dashes on back, and a large round black spot on rear back. Generally found solitary or in small groups, but may occasionally form large schools.

Spottail Grunt (Haemulon maculicauda )

Slightly reddish, grey body with light spots on scale centres forming lines along body, tail dark maroon, or often showing large rounded dark spot on base. Forms large schools around coastal reefs during the day, dispersing over sand areas at night.

Choose another fish Category

1. Disks and Ovals / Colorful

The first category of disk and oval shaped fish are very important to learn. They are colorful, large and very obvious and the three main families that make up the group can be found on almost every dive.

2. Silvery Fish

Silvery fish have many different family members, though we will look at just a few representatives. As opposed to the colorful butterfly, angel and surgeonfish, the silvery fish tend to blend in better in open water and are usually not found near the colorful bottom.

3. Sloping Head / Tapered Body

This third group of “fish-like” fish, are very important to learn. The are common on most dives and are also highly sought after as food fish. It is especially important to monitor these fish to provide data for fisheries management. Snappers can be very difficult to tell apart from the similarly shaped grunts. One helpful hint is to look at their tails. Snappers tend to have straight, flat tails. They are also known for their habit of snapping their mouth open and shut when caught on hook and line. They have very sharp canine teeth that can provide a nasty bite to the unsuspecting angler. Look closely on your next dive and you may see the small teeth protruding from the side of the mouth. Grunts on the other hand, have slightly notched tails. They get their name from the grunting sounds they emit when threatened. These sounds are created by rubbing together bony teeth plates located in the back of the throat. Since the teeth are in the throat, a diver will never see protruding teeth on a grunt, only big blubbery fish lips.

4. Small Ovals / Damselfish

While divers tend to first notice the larger, more obvious fish on a dive, after a short while the challenge to find new species leads them to change their search image to look for smaller, previously unnoticed fish. Generally, the first new species a diver will encounter will belong to the small oval shaped group. This group is broken into the damselfish and their close cousins the chromis. Damsels are like the surgeonfish in that they eat algae. They do not roam around grazing, but rather tend to small algae gardens like a farmer. These areas are guarded fiercely as the algae farm is the damsels food source. For that reason you can think of the damselfish as not just territorial, but Dam- selfish with its territory. Many damselfish have distinctly different colors as juveniles, often being much brighter and more colorful when they are young and becoming drab with age. (much like us humans!) For this reason, the juveniles have been heavily collected for the aquarium trade and are under heavy fishing pressure. As part of the REEF Fish Survey Project, divers are asked to monitor the juveniles and adults separately in two of the damselfish species – the Cortez damselfish and the giant damselfish.

5. Heavy Body / Large Lips

Heavy bodied, large lipped fish belong to the seabass family. We tend to refer to the larger seabasses as groupers and the smaller seabasses as bass or basslets. These fish are extremely important food fish and are under increasing threats from heavy fishing pressures. Monitoring these fish can help provide valuable data to aid in their protection. Most seabasses are hermaphrodites, meaning the same fish will be both a male and a female during its lifetime. The groupers are all born female and later change sex to become male. Most large groupers also congregate each year to spawn at a specific location, making them easy targets for emerging positioning and fishing technology.

6. Swim with Pectorals / Obvious Scales

The fish in this group all use their pectoral fins to swim with rather than the traditional tail swimming of most other fish. The scales are also quite large and obvious. These fish can also be hermaphrodites, like the groupers, with some fish changing sex and others staying the same. Intermediate and adult fish often have very different appearances compared to the always-male terminal phase. This means learning two colors to be able to ID the same species of fish. Most of the pictures shown in this curriculum are terminal phase males, unless noted.

7. Redish / Big Eyes

This group of reddish fish is normally not seen during day dives due to their nocturnal nature. The reddish color helps them blend in at night and the large eyes help them to see better.

8. Small, Elongated Bottom Dwellers

The small bottom dwelling fish often make up the most interesting fish to watch during your dive. Their approachable nature and interesting behaviors make them great fishwatching finds. Blennies tend to be slightly larger than gobies, but are most easily recognized by their curved body posture and expressive faces. Gobies, though similar in their habitat requirements, tend to sit flat and straight on the bottom. The jawfishes actually live in a burrow in the sand that they excavate and maintain.

9. Odd-Shaped Bottom-Dwellers

This category of fish is made up of families and species that didn’t quite fit anywhere else due to their unique body shapes.

10. Odd-Shaped Swimmers

This group of fish contain families that are unusual in their shape, but are swimmers rather than bottom dwellers.

11. Eels

Though looking like snakes, eels are fish. There are several different types of eels, and we will look at two – garden eels that live in burrows in the sand and moray eels. Moray eels have a bad reputation mainly due to the constant opening and closing of their sharp toothed mouths. However, this is not a threat to divers, as this action pumps water through their gills. Most eels are actually very shy.

12. Sharks & Rays

Even though the sharks and rays are cartilaginous (their skeletons are made of cartilage instead of bones), they are still referred to as fish and count during our surveys.

Fun Fact Sapper

5 Fun Facts - Snappers

Snappers are a diverse family of fish known as Lutjanidae. There are over 100 different species of snappers found in warm waters around the world. Here's all you need to know about snappers, along with some fun facts:

Size Matters: Some snapper species can grow to impressive sizes. The red snapper, for example, can reach lengths of up to 40 inches (1 meter) and weigh as much as 50 pounds (23 kilograms).

Predator by Nature: Snappers are carnivorous predators. They have sharp teeth and powerful jaws that allow them to feed on a diet of smaller fish, crustaceans, and even cephalopods.

Habitat Variety: Snappers are incredibly adaptable and can be found in a wide range of habitats, from shallow coastal waters to deep ocean reefs. They are often associated with coral reefs and rocky outcrops.

Commercial and Recreational Fishing: Snappers are highly sought after by commercial and recreational fishermen due to their delicious flesh and sporty nature. However, overfishing has become a concern in some regions, leading to conservation efforts to protect their populations. Remember ocean lovers, fish are our friends, not food !

Mating Rituals: Snappers have interesting mating rituals. They often form large spawning aggregations during certain times of the year, where hundreds or even thousands of individuals gather to reproduce.