Lutjanus viridis

Blue and gold snapper
Lutjanus viridis
Lutjanus viridis, Costa Rica, Photo: Graham Edgar

Distribution

Tropical Eastern Pacific


Description

Generally bright yellow body (can be dark) with five black-edged blue lines on sides, pale belly with numerous narrow orange/yellow lines, and often a reddish face. Can occur in large schools. Similar L. kasmira (Blue-stripe Snapper), and L. quinquelineatus (Five-line Snapper), aren't found in the eastern Pacific where this species inhabits.


Information

Max Size: 30 cm

Sea Temperature Range: 20.8-30.3°C

Depth: 3-30m

Habitat Generalization Index: 18.47

Also referred to as the SGI (Species Generalisation Index), this describes the habitat niche breadth of the species. Species with values less than 15 are found in a relatively narrow range of reef habitat types (specialists), while those over 25 may be found on most hard substrates within their range (generalists). Learn more here.


Conservation and Rarity

IUCN Status: Least Concern

Occurrence: Common (24.8% of sites)

Occurrence describes how often the species is found on surveys within its distribution. It is calculated as the % of reef sites surveyed by RLS divers across all the ecoregions in which the species has been observed

Abundance: Many (45 per transect)

Abundance is calculated as the average number of individuals recorded per RLS transect, where present.


Edit by: Joe Shields