Yellowtail Snapper

Yellowtail snapper have a distinct yellow lateral band beginning at the snout that gets wider towards the forked tail, which is completely yellow. The rest of the fish is an olive to bluish black color with yellow spots above the lateral band. The dorsal fin is yellow while the anal and pelvic fins are whitish.

The species has one dorsal fin and one anal fin, which are partially supported by bony spines. The dorsal fin consists of ten spines and between twelve and fourteen soft rays, while the anal fin has three spines and eight or nine soft rays. Scales are found on the bases of the soft portions of the dorsal and anal fins. The pectoral fin is long, and its tip reaches the level of the vent.

Yellowtail snapper are native to the Western Atlantic Ocean. Though their range extends as far north as Massachusetts and as far south as southeastern Brazil, the species is most common in the Bahamas, off the coast of south Florida and throughout the Caribbean.

Natural predators of adult yellowtail snapper include large fishes such as barracuda, mackerel, grouper, sharks, and even other snapper species. Yellowtails feed on shrimp, crabs, worms, and smaller fish. They spawn in groups off the edges of reefs from spring to fall, but heavily in midsummer.

Yellowtail snapper is not overfished and the stock is not currently experiencing overfishing in the United States. However, yellowtail stocks in Cuba and Brazil are overfished and the species is listed as highly vulnerable to overfishing in Mexico. Management of the stock is extremely limited in this region.