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Close up of the head of a yellowtail snapper.  Photo courtesy of V. O. Skinner, California State University Long Beach. 
 

Species Name: 
Ocyurus chrysurus Bloch, 1791

Common Name:
Yellowtail snapper.

Synonymy:
None.

Other Taxonomic Groupings:
Superclass: Osteichthyes
Subclass: Neopterygii
Infraclass: Teleostei
Superorder: Acanthopterygii

Potentially Misidentified Species:
Ocyurus chrysurus is a distinctive species that is not easily confused with other snappers.

Species Description:
Ocyurus chrysurus is an elongate, slender, snapper that may grow to 76 cm or more in length and reach 9 pounds, though most are captured at much smaller size.  The dorsal fin is

continuous, with 10 strong spines, the fifth of which is the longest, and 12-14 soft rays.  The anal fin has 3 spines and 8-9 rays, with the third spine longer than the second.  The caudal fin is long and deeply forked, with the upper lobe longer then the lower.  The pectoral fins are also long, reaching to the anus.  Scales are small and ctenoid, with 48-49 lateral line scales.  In profile, the dorsal area is only slightly elevated, with a slight curve between the nape and the dorsal fin.  The mouth is small in comparison with other snappers and is set obliquely, with the lower jaw projecting beyond the upper.  The maxillary extends beyond the front of the orbit.  The upper jaw and the vomer each have a narrow band of villiform teeth, with the upper jaw also having 5-6 lateral canine teeth.  The lower jaw has larger villiform teeth.  The preopercule is weakly serrated, and those at the angle are shallowly emarginated.  Body color is distinctive.  The dorsal surface is bluish to olive green in color, fading along the sides to white along the ventral surface.  A strong yellow stripe runs midlaterally along the sides, originating on the snout and broadening as it runs the length of the body to the depth of the entire caudal peduncle.  Yellow spots pepper the upper body above the midlateral stripe.  The caudal fin is entirely yellow.  The dorsal fin is yellow distally, but pale at its base and anteriorly.  All other fins are pale yellow or clear in color (Bortone and Williams 1986). 

II.  HABITAT AND DISTRIBUTION 

Regional Occurrence:
In the Western Atlantic, Ocyurus chrysurus ranges from approximately Massachusetts south to Brazil including Bermuda, the Gulf of Mexico, West Indies, and the Caribbean.  It is most common from South Florida through the Bahamas and Caribbean. 

IRL Distribution:
Juveniles are common in inshore areas where they utilize seagrass beds as nursery habitats.  Adults are found within the IRL, especially near inlet areas, however, they are more common in nearshore and offshore waters. 

III. LIFE HISTORY AND POPULATION BIOLOGY

Age, Size, Lifespan:
Ocyurus chrysurus reaches a maximum size of 86.3 cm (33.9 inches) total length (TL), and may weigh as much as 4.07 kg (8.9 pounds) (IGFA 2001).  they are reported to live 14 years or more. 

Growth rates in yellowtail snapper were reported by Thompson and Munro (1974) as 3.3 mm/month (0.13 inches) based on back calculated lengths at mean annulus formation in otoliths.

Reproduction:
Age at maturity is in question for many snapper species, with most authors relating maturity to length.  Ocyurus chrysurus males become mature at approximately 26 cm (10.2 inches) fork length (FL), while females mature at 29 – 31cm (11.4 – 12.2 inches) FL (Thompson and Munro 1974).  As with most snappers, the yellowtail spawns offshore in groups (Wicklund 1969;  Thompson and Munro 1974).  The spawning season may be protracted, with seasonal peaks in activity (Erdman 1976).  Munro et al. (1973) reported ripe individuals from March through May in nearshore waters off Jamaica, but noted that yellowtail spawn year-round in offshore waters.  Off Cuba, Piedra (1969) reported females were ripe between March and August.  Allen (1985) reported yellowtail snapper spawning from April to August in the Florida Keys.

Fecundity was estimated by Piedra (1969) as 99,660 – 1.5 million eggs per female for Ocyurus chrysurus measuring between 292-382 mm (11.5 – 15.0 inches) FL.

Rodriguez-Pino 1961) reported that Ocyurus chrysurus sometimes hybridizes with lane snapper, Lutjanus synagris.  They are also thought to hybridize with the dog snapper, L. jocu (Jordan and Evermann 1898). 

Embryology:
As with most snapper species, eggs are pelagic (Bortone and Williams 1986) and hatch after approximately 20 hours. 

IV.  PHYSICAL TOLERANCES

Temperature:
Under laboratory conditions, the upper lethal temperature for Ocyurus chrysurus was 33.5º - 34.0ºC (Wallace 1977) with acclimation temperature not appearing to have any effect on upper lethal limits.   

V.  COMMUNITY ECOLOGY

Trophic Mode:
Most snappers are classified as euryphagic carnivores (Bortone and Williams 1986).  Ocyurus chrysurus differs somewhat in its feeding behavior from other snappers because it tends to feed above the substratum more than do other species.  Randall (1967) reported adults eat crabs (23%), shrimp (16%), and fishes (15.9%).  Off Cuba, Piedra (1969) reported yellowtail stomach contents included fish (82%), and shrimp (17%).  Smaller fishes, crustaceans, marine worms, gastropods, and cephalopods have also been reported in the diet (Allen 1985).    

Predators:
Primary predators of snappers are sharks and other large predatory fishes including other snappers (Bortone and Williams 1986). 

Habitats:
Ocyurus chrysurus  is typically found at water depths of 20-70 m (66 – 230 feet) depths (Thompson and Munro 1974; Fischer 1978), but has been reported to depths from 0-180 m (0 – 590 feet).  Juveniles utilize vegetated inshore waters in estuaries and bays and are common in seagrass beds (Starck 1971; Bortone and Williams 1986).  Adults generally form schools, but are less associated with hard-bottoms than other snapper species (Randall 1967;  Bortone and Williams 1986), inhabiting patch reefs and along the outer edges of deeper coral and rock reefs.  Moe (1972) reported yellowtail snappers to be semipelagic wanderers over reef habitats.  Adults tend to remain in an area once they have become established (Beaumariage 1969; Bortone and Williams 1986).  

Activity Time:
Ocyurus chrysurus feeds primarily nocturnally (Bortone and Williams 1986).

VI. SPECIAL STATUS

Special Status:
None.

Fisheries Importance:  

          COMMERCIAL FISHERY:
The commercial fishery for yellowtail snapper is not especially valuable in east central Florida, though it is considerably more valuable in south Florida where average annual landings total over 1.7 million pounds and are valued at approximately $3.5 million.  Data from Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute (FWRI) show that landings of yellowtail have changed from being fairly evenly distributed between commercial and recreational fishers from 1982 - 1992, to one more dominated by commercial interests since 1993.  On the Atlantic coast of Florida catches have fluctuated without any discernable trend from 1982 - 2000.  In recent years, Atlantic coast landings have been somewhat lower, now averaging approximately 167,000 pounds.  On the Gulf coast, landings have fluctuated around 1.8 million pounds since 1996.  In 2003, FWRI reported that yellowtail snapper landings were 4% lower statewide than in the previous 5 years. 

The statewide commercial catch of yellowtail snapper, Ocyurus chrysurus, between the years 1987 - 2001 was 51.9 million pounds, with a dollar value of over $25.9 million.  Within this time period, 38,001 pounds of yellowtail were 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 $73,332 reported.  This ranks the yellowtail snapper seventy-fourth in commercial value within the IRL, and eightieth in pounds harvested.   

Figure 1 below shows the dollar value of the commercial yellowtail snapper fishery to IRL counties by year.  As shown, the commercial catch ranged from a low of $2,024 in 1994 to a high of over $11,004 in 1994.  St. Lucie County accounts for the largest percentage of the yellowtail snapper catch with 32.3% in total (Figure 2),  followed by Volusia County, which accounts for 28.7% of the total.  Martin, Brevard and Indian River Counties accounted for 22.0%, 15.0% and 2.1% of the total respectively. 

  Figure 1.  Annual dollar value of the commercial catch of yellowtail snapper to the 5-county
              area of the Indian River Lagoon. 

  Figure 2.  Total yellowtail snapper dollar value and percentage by county for the years
             1987 - 2001.

 

   Table 1.  Total dollar value of IRL yellowtail snapper, Ocyurus chrysurus, from 1987 - 2001.

 

           Table 2.  By-county annual and cumulative percentages of the yellowtail snapper
                      harvest for the years 1987-2001.