Five-lined Snapper

Photo courtesy from Fishes of Australia

Five-lined Snapper (Lutjanus quinquelineatus)

Other Name: Blue-lined Snapper
Max. Length: 38 centimeters
Length at 1st Maturity: 13.6 centimeters
a value: 0.02960
b value: 2.851
Depth Range: 2-40 meters (6 – 130 feet)
Frequency: Abundant in reefs of the Indo-Pacific Ocean

As the name implies, you can easily identify this fish through its 5 light-blue colored horizontal lines that traverses across the mid-body section. These lines are more pronounced as it perfectly contrast its bright-yellow colored body. In terms of swimming, a five-lined snapper is one of the sluggish moving fish in the reef due to its highly compressed body.

A Juvenile’s Pseudo-Eye that defies Predators

The prominent black spot of a juvenile Five-lined snapper. Photo courtesy from Image du monde.

Another identifying mark for a five-lined snapper is a black spot located near the tail. You have to take note that this spot is evident only in juveniles and slowly fades away as the fish reaches maturity.

If you try to look at a juvenile five-lined snapper from afar, it looks like they have two eyes: one being the true eye and the other being a pseudo-eye which functions primarily not for vision but to distract predators. This is an effective defense mechanism, especially for juveniles where they lack the speed to evade fast-swimming predators, and have a 50% chance of surviving an attack. Most predators easily get confused when they are about to attack a juvenile five-lined snapper. It can either be a fatal attack when predators are able to target the true eye, or the chances of getting away if they attack the pseudo-eye.

Adults go in School

Photo courtesy from Wallpapers13.com

If you are thinking that a matured five-lined snappers go to school while wearing uniform and school ID, then we assume you love anime or cartoon movies. What we mean is that adults usually go in groups, called school, while juveniles are mostly solitary and taking refuge in cracks and crevices.

During your underwater adventures in Cocos island, what you will usually see are groups of adult five-lined snappers. While exploring the reefs of Cocos island, you will wonder how these adult snappers employ their defense mechanism. While it is true that the black spot is not anymore prominent in their body, they take refuge by grouping themselves in huge numbers, forming a school, where predators will be having a hard time pinpointing a specific fish to become its meal.

A Chef’s Favorite Seafood Ingredient

Photo courtesy from Wallpapers13.com

While I am writing this article, a friend of mine who happens to be a Chef told me that this particular fish is a sought-after ingredient when it comes to a seafood meal. I confirmed his statement that, snappers in general, are highly priced seafood where you can make a good meal out of it like sweet and sour, steamed with mayonnaise, fish stew or simply deep-fried. But I also told him that this article is intended for divers who wants to see this particular fish alive in Cocos island and not in a gourmet plate. And this is also one of the reasons why you often see them as a screensaver in you computer monitor.

Reference

Fishbase: www.fishbase.org

IUCN Redlist of Threatened Species: www.iucnredlist.org

Encyclopedia of Life: www.eol.org

Video courtesy from Trek Dig Media

About Tristan Paylado
Tristan is a marine biologist and a CMAS 2-Star Dive Instructor
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