Mangrove Jack, Lutjanus argentimaculatus (Forsskål 1775)


Other Names: Creek Red Bream, Dog Bream, Mangrove Red Snapper, Purple Sea Perch, Purple Sea-perch, Red Bass, Red Bream, Red Perch, Red Reef Bream, River Roman, Rock Barramundi

A Mangrove Jack, Lutjanus argentimaculatus, at South West Rocks, New South Wales, April 2013. Source: Sascha Schultz / iNaturalist.org. License: CC by Attribution-NonCommercial

Summary:
A very popular sports fish with a greenish-brown to reddish body, and a silvery-white belly. Individuals in deeper waters are reddish overall. Juveniles have a series of about 8 whitish bars on the sides, and 1-2 blue lines across the cheek. The Mangrove Jack has a slightly concave caudal fin and the scale rows on the back are roughly parallel to the lateral line. 

Video of Mangrove Jacks on the NSW North Coast
Video of Mangrove Jacks, Bream and Jungle Perch amongst mangrove roots on Hinchinbrook Island, Queensland.
Video of a Mangrove Jack being fed in an aquarium.
Mangrove Jacks in Moreton Bay

Cite this page as:
Martin F. Gomon & Dianne J. Bray, Lutjanus argentimaculatus in Fishes of Australia, accessed 09 Dec 2024, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/home/species/548

Mangrove Jack, Lutjanus argentimaculatus (Forsskål 1775)

More Info


Distribution

Widespread in northern Australia from Geraldton, WA, around the tropical north to Lake Illawarra, NSW; also Lord Howe Island in the Tasman Sea. Elsewhere, the species is widespread in the tropical Indo-west-central Pacific, and has been recorded from the coast of Lebanon in the Mediterranean Sea having reached there via the Suez Canal.

Adults usually inhabit coral reefs, often sheltering in caves or under ledges during the day. Juveniles and young adults occur amongst mangroves and in tidal creeks, and are sometimes found in the lower reaches of fresh-water streams. As they grow, they migrate offshore to deeper reef areas. 

Features

Meristic features: Dorsal fin X, 13-14; Anal fin III, 8; Pectoral fin 16-17; Gill rakers 16-20 (lower 9-12).
Body moderately deep, depth 2.5-3.1 times in standard length. Snout somewhat pointed; preorbital bone relatively broad, wider than eye diameter; preopercular notch and knob poorly developed; jaws with well developed canine teeth; vomerine tooth patch crescentic, without a medial posterior extension; tongue with patch of granular teeth.
Scale rows on back more or less parallel to lateral line, or parallel below spinous part of dorsal fin and sometimes rising obliquely posteriorly, or rarely with entirely oblique rows.
Dorsal fin continuous; posterior profile of dorsal and anal fins rounded. Caudal fin emarginate to nearly truncate.

Size

To 120 cm SL, commonly to 80 cm.

Colour

Back and sides greenish-brown to reddish, belly silvery or whitish; those from deep water overall reddish. Juveniles with series of about 8 whitish bars crossing sides, and 1-2 blue lines across cheek.

Feeding

Carnivores - active predators feeding mainly at night on fishes, crustaceans, gastropods and cephalopod molluscs.

Biology

Oviparous pelagic spawners. Spawning occurs on deeper offshore reefs during the summer months. Juveniles around 2cm in length settle out from the plankton into coastal estuaries during late summer. They spend several years in estuaries, ranging upstream into brackish mangrove creeks and the lower reaches of freshwater streams. 
Tagging studies indicate that Mangrove Jacks migrate to offshore reefs at 40-50 cm in length.

Fisheries

A popular and important commercial and recreational fish throughout its range, and considered to be an excellent food fish. Taken mostly with handlines, bottom longlines, and in bottom trawls.

Remarks

Like other tropical snappers (family Lutjanidae), Mangrove Jacks  have prominent canine teeth in their jaws that are used for seizing and holding prey. These teeth can cause a nasty injury to unwary fishers.

Similar Species

Similar to the Red Bass, Lutjanus bohar, which is usually darker in coloration and has fewer dorsal-fin spines, scale rows on the back that rise obliquely from the lateral line, and a deep groove from the nostrils to the eyes.

Species Citation

Sciaena argentimaculata  Forsskål, 1775. Descript. Animal. :47. Type locality: Arabia.

Author

Martin F. Gomon & Dianne J. Bray

Mangrove Jack, Lutjanus argentimaculatus (Forsskål 1775)

References


Allan, R. 2002. Australian Fish and How to Catch Them.  Sydney : New Holland Publishers (Australia) 394 pp.

Allen, G.R. 1985. FAO Species Catalogue. Snappers of the World. An annotated and illustrated catalogue of lutjanid species known to date. FAO Fisheries Synopsis No. 125, Vol. 6. Rome : FAO 208 pp.

Allen, G.R. 1997. Marine Fishes of Tropical Australia and South-east Asia. Perth : Western Australian Museum 292 pp. 106 pls.

Allen, G.R. & Erdmann, M.V. 2012. Reef fishes of the East Indies. Perth : Tropical Reef Research 3 vols, 1260 pp.

Allen, G.R. & Swainston, R. 1988. The Marine Fishes of North-Western Australia. A field guide for anglers and divers. Perth, WA : Western Australian Museum vi 201 pp., 70 pls.

Allen, G.R. & Talbot, F.H. 1985. Review of the snappers of the genus Lutjanus (Pisces: Lutjanidae) from the Indo-Pacific, with the description of a new species. Indo-Pacific Fishes 11: 1-87

Anderson, W.D. & Allen, G.R. 2001. Lutjanidae. pp. 2840-2918 in Carpenter, K.E. & Niem, V.H. (eds). The Living Marine Resources of the Western Central Pacific. FAO Species Identification Guide for Fisheries Purposes. Rome : FAO Vol. 5 2791-3379 pp.

Blaber, S.J.M. 1980. Fish of the Trinity Inlet System of North Queensland with notes on the ecology of fish faunas of tropical Indo-Pacific estuaries. Aust. J. Mar. Freshwat. Res. 31: 137-46.

Blaber, S.J.M., J.W. Young & M.C. Dunning. 1985. Community structure and zoogeographic affinities of the coastal fishes of the Dampier region of north-western Australia. Aust. J. Mar. Freshwat. Res. 36: 247-266.

Emata, A.C., J.P. Damaso & B.E. Eullaran. 1999. Growth, maturity and induced spawning of mangrove red snapper, Lutjanus argentimaculatus, broodstock reared in concrete tanks. Isr. J. Aquacult./Bamidgeh 51(2): 58-64.

Forsskål, P. 1775. Descriptiones animalium avium, amphibiorum, piscium, insectorum, vermium; quae in itinere orientali observavit Petrus Forskål. Post mortem auctoris edidit Carsten Niebuhr. Adjuncta est materia medica kahirina atque tabula maris rubri geographica. Hauniae : Mölleri 1-20 + i-xxxiv + 1-164, 43, pls.

Gloerfelt-Tarp, T. & Kailola, P.J. 1984. Trawled Fishes of Southern Indonesia and Northwest Australia. Jakarta : Dir. Gen. Fish. (Indonesia), German Tech. Coop., Aust. Dev. Ass. Bur. 406 pp.

Grant, E.M. 1975. Guide to Fishes. Brisbane : Queensland Government, Co-ordinator General’s Department 640 pp.

Grant, E.M. 1991. Fishes of Australia. Brisbane : EM Grant Pty Ltd 480 pp.

Hutchins, J.B. 2001. Biodiversity of shallow reef fish assemblages in Western Australia using a rapid censusing technique. Records of the Western Australian Museum 20: 247-270

Hutchins, J.B. & Swainston, R. 1986. Sea Fishes of Southern Australia. Complete field guide for anglers and divers. Perth : Swainston Publishing 180 pp.

Johannes, R.E. & J.W. MacFarlane. 1991. Traditional fishing in the Torres Strait Islands. CSIRO Division of Fisheries, Tasmania, Australia. 268 pp.

Johnson, J.W. 2010. Fishes of the Moreton Bay Marine Park and adjacent continental shelf waters, Queensland, Australia. pp. 299-353 in Davie, P.J.F. & Phillips, J.A. Proceedings of the Thirteenth International Marine Biological Workshop, The Marine Fauna and Flora of Moreton Bay. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 54(3)

Kuiter, R.H. 1993. Coastal Fishes of South-eastern Australia. Bathurst : Crawford House Press 437 pp.

Lake, J.S. 1978. Australian Freshwater Fishes. Melbourne : Thomas Nelson 160 pp. 140 figs.

Larson, H.K. & Williams, R.S. 1997. Darwin Harbour fishes: a survey and annotated checklist. pp. 339-380 in Hanley, H.R., Caswell, G., Megirian, D. & Larson, H.K. (eds). The Marine Flora and Fauna of Darwin Harbour, Northern Territory, Australia. Proceedings of the Sixth International Marine Biology Workshop. Darwin : Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory 466 pp.

Merrick, J.R. & Schmida, G.E. 1984. Australian Freshwater Fishes Biology and Management. Sydney : J.R. Merrick 409 pp. figs 280 col. figs.

Ong JJ, Rountrey AN, Meeuwig JJ, Newman SJ, Zinke J, Meekan MG. 2015. Contrasting environmental drivers of adult and juvenile growth in a marine fish: implications for the effects of climate change. Sci Rep. 2015; 5: 10859 doi: 10.1038/srep10859. PDF

Pollard, J. (ed.) 1980. G.P. Whitley's Handbook of Australian Fishes. North Sydney : Jack Pollard Publishing Pty Ltd 629 pp.

Pusey, B.J., A.H. Arthington & M.G. Read. 1995. Species richness and spatial variation in fish assemblage structure in two rivers of the wet tropics of northern Queensland, Australia. Environ. Biol. Fish. 42(2): 181-199.

Randall, J.E. 2005. Reef and shore fishes of the South Pacific. New Caledonia to Tahiti and the Pitcairn Islands. Honolulu : University of Hawaii Press 707 pp.

Randall, J.E., Allen, G.R. & Steene, R. 1990. Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea. Bathurst : Crawford House Press 507 pp. figs.

Randall, J.E., Allen, G.R. & Steene, R. 1997. Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea. Bathurst : Crawford House Press 557 pp. figs.

Roughley, T.C. 1957. Fish and Fisheries of Australia. Sydney : Angus & Robertson 341 pp.

Russell, B.C. 1983. Annotated checklist of the coral reef fishes in the Capricorn-Bunker group, Great Barrier Reef, Australia. Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority. Special Publication Series 1: 1-184 figs 1-2

Russell, D.J., et al. 2003. Biology, Management and Genetic Stock Structure of Mangrove Jack (Lutjanus argentimaculatus) in Australia. Queensland Department of Primary Industries and the Fisheries Research Development Corporation, FRDC Project Number 1999/122.

Sainsbury, K.J., Kailola, P.J. & Leyland, G.G. 1985. Continental Shelf Fishes of Northern and North-Western Australia. Canberra : Fisheries Information Service 375 pp. figs & pls.

Yearsley, G.K., Last, P.R. & Ward, R.D. (eds) 1999. Australian Seafood Handbook. Hobart : CSIRO Marine Research 460 pp.

Quick Facts


CAAB Code:37346015

Depth:0-120 m

Fishing:Commercial, recreational, aquaculture fish

Habitat:Reefs, mangroves, freshwater streams

Max Size:150 cm TL

Species Image Gallery

Species Maps

CAAB distribution map