If you want to know what kind of snapper fish, our article will help you find answers to all questions. Consider the features of the family, the habitat and commercial value of these fish, the use in cooking and some other interesting facts. And illustrations will help to get the most complete picture of snappers.
Classification
The snapper family belongs to the order of the perciform class of ray-finned fish. It includes several genera. Our article is devoted to the genus of snappers, numbering several dozen species. These fish are sometimes called lutians, snappers or snappers.
Habitat
Snapper fish is pelagic. It lives in the warm tropical and subtropical waters of the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian oceans.
All species of snappers are predators, many of which also have large sizes. In their natural habitat, they do not lack food, and they have few natural enemies.
External features
Snapper fish, the photo of which you see in the following illustration, has a relatively large head and developed mouth. The oral apparatus of most species is intended for hunting in the water column. Fish can also raise food from the bottom, but superficial nutrition is beyond its power.
Many representatives of the genus are characterized by a large size. For example, gray snapper can reach one meter in length. But some species are small, the size of no more than a palm.
Fishing value
Red snapper is the fish most interested in fishing companies. Her meat is considered a delicacy. Trawl vessels hunt this flock of fish in deep water bodies with a rocky-rocky bottom. One individual can reach 20 kg in weight, but smaller specimens, 30–40 cm each, also fall on the net. On the shelves of Russian stores you can find just such a red snapper (which is sometimes called just sea bass).
Of great commercial importance is the gray snapper, which has approximately the same dimensions.
Culinary value
Snapper fish is appreciated by professional chefs for its excellent expressive taste, delicate texture, a pleasant light shade of meat and a relatively small number of bones. The fish scales are medium in size, but can be easily removed.
Some peoples consider the dishes of this fish to be national and offer them to tourists in local restaurants.
Since the body of the fish is flattened from the sides, many cooks prefer not to cut the fillet from the carcass, but to bake the whole. A large triangular head with a powerful jaw and large eyes looks quite decorative, so it is often not cut off from the carcass. But on sale you can also find fillets, which are cut from the largest representatives of the species.
