Animal Species:Ornate Snapper, Pristipomoides argyrogrammicus (Valenciennes, 1831)

The Ornate Snapper can be recognised by its distinctive colouration. It occurs in tropical marine waters of the Indo-West Pacific.

Ornate Snapper, Pristipomoides argyrogrammicus

Ornate Snapper, Pristipomoides argyrogrammicus
Ian Cameron © Ian Cameron

Alternative Name/s

Ornate Jobfish

Identification

The Ornate Snapper can be recognised by its distinctive colouration. It is yellow above and silvery to pinkish below. There are bright blue spots and squiggles on the body. The upper part of the head is reddish and the dorsal and anal fins are yellowish.

Size range

The species grows to 40 cm in length.

Distribution

The Ornate Snapper is recorded from tropical marine waters of the Indo-West Pacific. In Australia it is known from off the central to north-western coast of Western Australia and from the northern Queensland coast south to the central coast of New South Wales.

The map below shows the Australian distribution of the species based on public sightings and specimens in Australian Museums. Click on the map for detailed information.  Source: Atlas of Living Australia.

Pristipomoides argyrogrammicus

Distribution by collection data

Ozcam map of Ornate Snapper specimens in the Australian Museums.

What does this mean?

Habitat

It usually occurs over rocky bottoms at depths between 70 m and 300 m.

Economic/social impacts

The Ornate Snapper is a good eating fish that is usually caught on hook and line.

Classification

Species:
argyrogrammicus
Genus:
Pristipomoides
Family:
Lutjanidae
Order:
Perciformes
Class:
Actinopterygii
Subphylum:
Vertebrata
Phylum:
Chordata
Kingdom:
Animalia

What does this mean?

References

  1. Allen, G.R. 1985. Snappers of the World. An Annotated and Illustrated Catalogue of Lutjanid Species Known to Date. FAO Species Catalogue. Vol. 6. FAO. Rome. Pp. 208, Pl. I-XXVII.
  2. Hoese, D.F., Bray, D.J., Paxton, J.R. & G.R. Allen. 2006. Fishes. In Beesley, P.L. & A. Wells. (eds) Zoological Catalogue of Australia. Volume 35. ABRS & CSIRO Publishing: Australia. parts 1-3, pages 1-2178.


Mark McGrouther , Collection Manager, Ichthyology
Last Updated:

Tags Fishes, Ichthyology, Ornate Snapper, Pristipomoides argyrogrammicus, Lutjanidae, tropical water, marine, Ornate Jobfish, yellow, silver underside, blue dots, dots/spots, 30 cm - 1 m, rocky bottom, deepsea, pink,