Twospot Snapper, Lutjanus biguttatus (Valenciennes 1830)

Other Names: Two Spot Snapper, Two-spot Banded Seaperch, Twospot Banded Snapper, Two-spot Banded Snapper

A Twospot Snapper, Lutjanus biguttatus, on the Ribbon Reefs, Great Barrier Reef, Queensland. Source: Andy A. Lewis / Lizard Island Research Station. License: CC by Attribution

Summary:

An easily recognised tropical snapper with a greyish back, a broad white stripe from the jaws to the tail base bordered by two reddish-brown stripes, and two white spots on the back below the dorsal fin base. Juveniles are mostly white with a grey back, a dark brown midlateral stripe and a pair of faint white spots on the back.
Video of Twospot Snapper schooling in the Andaman Islands (3 minutes into the video)

Cite this page as:

Dianne J. Bray, Lutjanus biguttatus in Fishes of Australia, accessed 20 Sep 2024, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/home/species/549

Twospot Snapper, Lutjanus biguttatus (Valenciennes 1830)

More Info

Distribution	Recorded in Australia form Scott Reef to Hibernia Reef, WA, and Ashmore Reef, Coral Sea, to off Townsville, QLD. The species occurs elsewhere in the tropical, east-Indo-west Pacific. Although Twospot Snapper occur in pairs and small groups, the sometimes form large schools of more than 100 individuals.
Features	Dorsal fin XI, 12; Anal fin III, 8. Snout profile low, sloping very gently. Preorbital bone narrow, its width less than half of eye diameter. Preopercular notch and knob poorly developed. Scale rows on back rising obliquely above lateral line.
Feeding	Carnivore - feeds mostly on fishes and crustaceans.
Fisheries	Fishes commercially in parts of their range.
Species Citation	Serranus biguttatus Valenciennes, 1830, Hist. Nat. Poiss. 6: 507. Type locality: Trincomalee, Sri Lanka (as Ceylon) & Ambon, Indonesia.
Author	Dianne J. Bray

Twospot Snapper, Lutjanus biguttatus (Valenciennes 1830)

References

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. & Russell, B.C. 1986. Part VII Fishes. pp. 79-103 in Berry, P.F. (ed.). Faunal Surveys of the Rowley Shoals, Scott Reef and Seringapatam Reef, northwestern Australia. Records of the Western Australian Museum, Supplement 25: 1-106.

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.

Kuiter, R.H. 1992. Tropical Reef-Fishes of the Western Pacific, Indonesia and Adjacent Waters. Jakarta : PT Gramedia Pustaka Utama 314 pp. pls.

Myers, R.F. 1999. Micronesian Reef Fishes. Coral Graphics. 330 pp.

Russell, B.C., Larson, H.K., Hutchins, J.B. & Allen, G.R. 2005. Reef fishes of the Sahul Shelf. The Beagle, Records of the Museums and Art Galleries of the Northern Territory Supplement 1 2005: 83-105.

Valenciennes, A. in Cuvier, G.L. & Valenciennes, A. 1830. Histoire Naturelle des Poissons. Paris : Levrault Vol. 6 559 pp. pls 141-169.