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Species Description:
Lutjanus analis is a deep-bodied
and compressed snapper that may reach lengths of 30 – 77 cm (1 - 2.5
feet). It is common in inland and nearshore waters to approximately 6.8
kg (15 pounds). The dorsal fin is continuous with 9 - 11 (usually 10)
slender dorsal spines, the fourth of which is the longest. The angulate
soft dorsal fin has 13-14 rays. The caudal fin is deeply emarginate. The
anal fin is pointed and has 3 spines, the second and third equal in
length, and 8 anal rays. The pectoral fins are long, reaching past the
anus. Scales are small and ctenoid, with 47-51 lateral lines scales.
There are 12-13 gill rakers on the lower limb of the gill arch. The head
profile is steep and straight to the tip of the snout. The eyes are
small. The mouth is large and terminal, with the maxilla just reaching
the front of the orbit. The upper and lower jaws, as well as the vomer
have bands of villiform teeth. In addition, the upper jaw has 6 canine
teeth, 4 of which are enlarged. The preopercule is coarsely serrated
along its entire edge, and is shallowly notched at the angle. Body color
is variable depending upon the activity of the fish. Adults are olive
green dorsally, becoming paler laterally and ventrally. The ventral
surface is reddish, as are all of the fins. The margin of the caudal fin
is black. The snout bears an irregular blue line that reaches the
posterior of the eye. A second blue line runs from the maxilla to the
eye. A prominent black spot lies above the lateral line below the soft
portion of the dorsal fin. When not active, the mutton snapper may
evhibit a series of 10-12 dark vertical bars that run the length of the
body.
II. HABITAT AND
DISTRIBUTION
Regional Occurrence:
In the Western Atlantic, ranges from approximately Massachusetts south to Brazil
including Bermuda, the Gulf of Mexico, and
the Caribbean. It is most abundant
off south Florida, the Bahamas, and the
Antilles (Allen 1985).
IRL Distribution:
Lutjanus
analis is common throughout the Indian River Lagoon in seagrass beds, mangrove
creeks and canals. Larger fishes and mature adults are generally found in
offshore waters.
III. LIFE HISTORY AND POPULATION BIOLOGY
Age, Size, Lifespan:
Mutton snapper grow to a maximum reported size of 94.0 cm (37 inches) total
length (TL) (IGFA 2001) and may weigh as much as 15.6 kg (34.4 pounds). They
live as long as 29 years (Bortone and Williams 1986).
Reproduction:
As with most snappers, Lutjanus analis spawns offshore in groups (Wicklund
1969; Thompson and Munro 1974). It matures at approximately 40 - 50
cm (15.7 - 19.6 inches) (Allen 1985). Spawning typically occurs in July and August.
Rojas (1960)
estimated fecundity in a 512 mm (20.2 inches) fork length (FL) mutton snapper as
1.4 million eggs.
Embryology:
Like many
snapper species, eggs are pelagic (Bortone and Williams 1986) and hatch after
approximately 20 hours.
IV. PHYSICAL TOLERANCES
Temperature:
Rivas (1970) sampled Lutjanus analis from waters where temperatures
ranged from 18.9 – 27.8ºC (66.0 – 82.4 ºF), with a mean water temperature of
24.8 ºC (76.6 ºF).
V.
COMMUNITY ECOLOGY
Trophic Mode:
Most snappers are classified as euryphagic carnivores (Bortone and Williams
1986). In the Caribbean (Randall 1967), crabs made up 44% of the diet, fish
(29%), gastropods (13%), with the remainder consisting of octopods, hermit crabs
and shrimp (Randall 1967; Allen 1985).
Predators:
Primary predators of snappers are sharks and other large predatory fishes
including other snappers (Bortone and Williams 1986).
Habitats:
Lutjanus analis adults are typically
found at depths of 40 - 59 m (140 – 194 feet) depths (Rivas 1970) where they
often form small schools during daylight hours, but disband at night (Allen
1985). Juveniles are most common in inshore waterways (Springer and McErlean
1962) where the substrate consists of sand, seagrasses, or coral rubble (Bortone
and Williams 1986). Adults tend to remain in an area once they have become
established (Beaumariage 1969; Bortone and Williams 1986) and are most common in
the open waters of shelf areas and around islands. Larger adults inhabit coral
reefs and rocky, hard bottom areas.
Activity Time:
Lutjanus
analis is active diurnally and
nocturnally (Allen 1985; Bortone and Williams 1986).
VI. SPECIAL STATUS
Special Status:
None.
Fisheries Importance:
COMMERCIAL FISHERY:
The commercial fishery for mutton snapper is not of particularly high
value in east central Florida, averaging less than $11,000 per year.
The statewide commercial catch of
gray snapper, Lutjanus analis, between the years 1987 - 2001 was
5.5 million pounds, with a dollar value of over $9.6 million. Within
this time period however, only 92,189 pounds of mutton snapper was
harvested commercially in the 5 county area encompassing the IRL (Volusia,
Brevard, Indian River, St. Lucie and Martin Counties), with a dollar value
of just $163,205 reported. This ranks the mutton snapper
sixty-fourth in commercial value within the IRL, and seventy-fifth in
pounds harvested.
Figure 1 below shows the dollar value of the commercial
mutton snapper
fishery to IRL counties by year. As shown, the commercial catch ranged from a low of $5,647 in
1989 to a high of over $22,251 the next year, 1990. Volusia County accounts
for the largest percentage of the gray snapper catch with 37.3% in total (Figure 2), most
of which was accounted for by the large catch in 1990. Martin County
follows with 23% of the harvest, followed by St. Lucie, Brevard and Indian River
Counties, which account for 19.5%, 13.7% and 6.5% of the total respectively.
Of note are 2 particularly good harvests in Volusia County occurring in
1990 and 1998 which account for 65% and 61% of the annual catch respectively.
Figure 1. Annual dollar value of the
commercial catch of mutton snapper to the 5-county
area of the Indian River
Lagoon.
Figure 2. Total mutton
snapper
dollar value and percentage by county for the years 1987 -
2001.
|
|
VOLUSIA |
BREVARD |
INDIAN |
ST. |
MARTIN |
TOTAL |
|
RIVER |
LUCIE |
| |
Value |
Value |
Value |
Value |
Value |
Value |
|
YEAR |
($) |
($) |
($) |
($) |
($) |
to IRL |
|
1987 |
$3,332 |
$731 |
$70 |
$1,634 |
$1,415 |
$7,182 |
|
1988 |
$1,329 |
$315 |
$16 |
$1,884 |
$4,516 |
$8,060 |
|
1989 |
$1,184 |
$1,206 |
$288 |
$2,435 |
$534 |
$5,647 |
|
1990 |
$14,772 |
$1,537 |
$1,487 |
$903 |
$3,852 |
$22,551 |
|
1991 |
$2,122 |
$1,100 |
$421 |
$1,719 |
$1,092 |
$6,454 |
|
1992 |
$1,605 |
$1,057 |
$791 |
$2,711 |
$1,439 |
$7,603 |
|
1993 |
$1,534 |
$2,850 |
$324 |
$2,462 |
$1,976 |
$9,146 |
|
1994 |
$2,703 |
$5,023 |
$1,710 |
$3,757 |
$1,183 |
$14,376 |
|
1995 |
$8,776 |
$773 |
$1,567 |
$1,366 |
$2,589 |
$15,071 |
|
1996 |
$1,634 |
$905 |
$1,505 |
$597 |
$4,373 |
$9,014 |
|
1997 |
$2,757 |
$1,841 |
$158 |
$531 |
$1,770 |
$7,057 |
|
1998 |
$11,580 |
$3,335 |
$878 |
$713 |
$2,468 |
$18,974 |
|
1999 |
$3,601 |
$937 |
$366 |
$315 |
$3,179 |
$8,398 |
|
2000 |
$2,588 |
$396 |
$415 |
$4,896 |
$4,241 |
$12,536 |
|
2001 |
$1,363 |
$323 |
$584 |
$5,976 |
$2,890 |
$11,136 |
|
Cumulative Totals: |
$60,880 |
$22,329 |
$10,580 |
$31,899 |
$37,517 |
$163,205 |
Table 1. Total dollar value of IRL
mutton
snapper, Lutjanus analis, between
1987 - 2001.
|
|
VOLUSIA |
BREVARD |
INDIAN |
ST. |
MARTIN |
|
RIVER |
LUCIE |
| |
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
|
YEAR |
Total |
Total |
Total |
Total |
Total |
|
1987 |
46.39% |
10.18% |
0.97% |
22.75% |
19.70% |
|
1988 |
16.49% |
3.91% |
0.20% |
23.37% |
56.03% |
|
1989 |
20.97% |
21.36% |
5.10% |
43.12% |
9.46% |
|
1990 |
65.50% |
6.82% |
6.59% |
4.00% |
17.08% |
|
1991 |
32.88% |
17.04% |
6.52% |
26.63% |
16.92% |
|
1992 |
21.11% |
13.90% |
10.40% |
35.66% |
18.93% |
|
1993 |
16.77% |
31.16% |
3.54% |
26.92% |
21.61% |
|
1994 |
18.80% |
34.94% |
11.89% |
26.13% |
8.23% |
|
1995 |
58.23% |
5.13% |
10.40% |
9.06% |
17.18% |
|
1996 |
18.13% |
10.04% |
16.70% |
6.62% |
48.51% |
|
1997 |
39.07% |
26.09% |
2.24% |
7.52% |
25.08% |
|
1998 |
61.03% |
17.58% |
4.63% |
3.76% |
13.01% |
|
1999 |
42.88% |
11.16% |
4.36% |
3.75% |
37.85% |
|
2000 |
20.64% |
3.16% |
3.31% |
39.06% |
33.83% |
|
2001 |
12.24% |
2.90% |
5.24% |
53.66% |
25.95% |
Table 2.
By-county annual and cumulative percentages of the mutton snapper harvest for
the years 1987-2001.
|
|
Volusia |
Brevard |
Indian River |
St. Lucie |
Martin |
|
Dollars |
$60,880 |
$22,329 |
$10,580 |
$31,899 |
$37,517 |
|
% |
37.3% |
13.7% |
6.5% |
19.5% |
23.0% |
Table 3. By-county cumulative dollar value and percentage of total for the
mutton
snapper
harvest from 1987 - 2001.
RECREATIONAL FISHERY:
The information below reflects angler survey
information taken from the 5-county area that encompasses the Indian River
Lagoon. Approximately 460,226 mutton snapper were harvested in east
central Florida from 1997 - 2001. The bulk of the recreational harvest was taken
in nearshore waters to 3 miles (43.9%) and in offshore waters to 200 miles
(40.0%). Inland waters other than the Indian River Lagoon, and the
IRL itself account for only 8.5% and 7.6% respectively.
Figure 3. Survey data for the
mutton snapper recreational fishery showing the number of
fishes
harvested in East Florida waters from 1997 - 2004.
Figure 4. Summary of the mutton
snapper recreational harvest and percentage of total by
area from 1997 -
2004.
|
|
To 3 Miles |
To 200 Miles |
Other Inland |
IRL |
TOTAL |
|
1997 |
9,242 |
13,208 |
6,137 |
2,125 |
30,711 |
|
1998 |
13,067 |
13,260 |
13,238 |
11,831 |
51,396 |
|
1999 |
11,689 |
10,036 |
2,462 |
9,869 |
34,056 |
|
2000 |
23,444 |
34,686 |
859 |
1,469 |
60,458 |
|
2001 |
24,409 |
25,857 |
3,298 |
3,699 |
57,263 |
|
2002 |
45,758 |
31,720 |
3,269 |
1,820 |
82,568 |
|
2003 |
40,001 |
29,022 |
1,227 |
2,186 |
72,436 |
|
2004 |
34,230 |
26,267 |
8,771 |
2,071 |
71,338 |
|
Total: |
201,840 |
184,056 |
39,261 |
35,070 |
460,226 |
Table 4. Summary data for recreational fishery in Eastern Florida waters
for
the mutton snapper, Lutjanus analis, from 1997 - 2004. Data
provided by
National Marine Fisheries Service, Fisheries Statistics Division, NOAA.
|
|
To 3 |
To 200 Miles |
Other Inland |
IRL |
|
Miles |
|
|
% Total |
% Total |
% Total |
% Total |
|
1997 |
30.1% |
43.0% |
20.0% |
6.9% |
|
1998 |
25.4% |
25.8% |
25.8% |
23.0% |
|
1999 |
34.3% |
29.5% |
7.2% |
29.0% |
|
2000 |
38.8% |
57.4% |
1.4% |
2.4% |
|
2001 |
42.6% |
45.2% |
5.8% |
6.5% |
|
2002 |
55.4% |
38.4% |
4.0% |
2.2% |
|
2003 |
55.2% |
40.1% |
1.7% |
3.0% |
|
2004 |
48.0% |
36.8% |
12.3% |
2.9% |
Table 5. By-county annual and cumulative percentages of the mutton
snapper
harvest for the years 1997 - 2001.
Data provided by National Marine
Fisheries Service, Fisheries Statistics Division, NOAA.
|
|
To 3 Miles |
To 200 Miles |
Other Inland |
IRL |
|
No. Fish |
201,840 |
184,056 |
39,261 |
35,070 |
|
% |
43.86% |
39.99% |
8.53% |
7.62% |
Table 6. Summary of the mutton snapper recreational harvest and
percentage
of total fish captured in each area from 1997 - 2004. Data
provided
by National Marine Fisheries Service, Fisheries Statistics
Division,
NOAA.
VII. REFERENCES
Allen, G. R. 1985. Snappers of the World: An Annotated and Illustrated
Catalogue
of Lutjanid Species Known to Date. FAO Fisheries
Synopsis, no. 125, vol. 6.
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United
Nations, Rome, Italy.
ISBN/ISSN: 92-5-102321-2.
Anderson, W. D., Jr. 1967. Field guide to the snappers (Lutjanidae) of the
western
Atlantic. U.S. Fish Wildl. Serv. Circ.
252.
Beaumariage, D.S. 1969. Returns from the 1965 Schlitz tagging program
including
a cumulative analysis of previous results. Fla. Dep.
Nat. Resour. Tech. Ser. No.
59:1-38.
Bortone, S.A., and J.L. Williams. 1986. Species profiles: life histories and
environmental requirements of coastal fishes and
invertebrates (South Florida)--
gray, lane, mutton, and yellowtail snappers. U.S. Fish
Wildl. Serv. Biol. Rep.
82(11.52). U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, TR EL-82-4.
Erdman, D.S. 1976. Spawning patterns of fishes from the northeastern
Caribbean.
Agric. Fish.
Contrib. Dep. Agric. (Puerto Rico) 8(2):1-36.
IGFA, 2001 Database of IGFA angling records until 2001. IGFA, Fort
Lauderdale, USA.
Manooch, C.S., 1987 Age and growth of snappers and groupers. p. 329-373.
In
J.J. Polovina and S. Ralston (eds.) Tropical snappers and groupers: biology and
fisheries management. Ocean Resour. Mar. Policy Ser.
Westview Press, Inc.,
Boulder and
London.
Mason, D.L. and C.S. Manooch, III, 1985 Age and growth of mutton snapper
along the east coast of Florida. Fish. Res. 3:93-104.
Randall, J.E., 1968 Caribbean reef fishes. T.F.H. Publications, Inc. Ltd.,
Hong
Kong. 318 p.
Rivas, L.R. 1970. Snappers of the Western Atlantic. Commer. Fish. Rev.
32(1):41-44.
Rojas, L.E. 1960. Estudios estadisticos y biologicos sobre pargo criollo,
Lutjanus
analis. Cent. Invest. Pesq. Cuba.Nota 2:1-16.
Smith, C.L., 1997. National Audubon Society field guide to tropical
marine fishes
of the Caribbean, the Gulf of Mexico, Florida, the
Bahamas, and Bermuda.
Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., New York. 720 p.
Springer, V.G., and A.J. McErlean.1962. Seasonality of fishes on a south
Florida
shore. Bull. Mar. Sci. 12(l): 39-60.
Thompson, M., and J.L. Munro. 1974. The biology, ecology, exploitation and
management of Caribbean reef fishes; scientific report of the O.D.S./U.W.I.
fisheries. Ecology Research Project 1969-1973. Part V.
The biology, ecology
and bionomics of
Caribbean reef fishes: V.D. Lutjanidae (snappers). Zool. Dep.
Univ. West Indies,
Kingston,
Jamaica. Res. Rep. 3:1-69.
Thompson, R. and J.L. Munro. 1983. The biology, ecology and bionomics of
Caribbean reef fishes: Lutjanidae (snappers). p.
94-109. In: J.L. Munro (ed.)
Caribbean coral reef fishery resources. ICLARM Stud.
Rev 7.
Wicklund, R. 1969. Observations on spawning of lane snapper. Underwater
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6(2):40.
Report by: K. Hill,
Smithsonian Marine Station
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