Mangrove Jack

[Kettle]

Here's a nice Mangrove Jack I shot over here in Australia. I don't know if you get them over your way but they are considered a bit of a prize fish here. They are fantastic eating and put up a good struggle when shot. I shot this one freediving in about 5m of water. He weighed in at 5kg.

[Shawn]

What exactly are "Kilograms" and "meters"? ;) . Nice looking fish, kettle.

[biggsy]

Great fish, congrats on your catch!

[stainlessdeath]

In our part of the world we call that a mangrove snapper. and it is a very tasty fish for us too. good shootin!

[apexpredator]

Very nice fish. I hear you guys get them pretty big in your area. I wonder if they are the same as our mangrove snapper or if they are actually cubera snapper. I saw a few posted in another forum from Australia and the weights stated on the fish led me to believe that they were cubera. There is a way to determine if it is one or the other since both species share all other characteristics except this one. If you inspect the roof of their mouth both mangrove and cubera snapper will have a area of basslike teeth called vomerine teeth. They are not like normal teeth but rather a coarse area whose texture resembles something like velcro. In cubera snapper they are arranged in a pattern resembling a inverted "V". In mangrove snapper the vomerine teeth have the same "V" pattern but also have a shaft like congregation of these teeth that begins at the vertex of the V and continues back torwards the throat making the V appear like a spear point. Check it out next time you get one of these...I have allways wondered if they were one or the other. Keep the pics coming and dive safe...:D

[Killa]

We get the dog tooths in Trinidad and Tobago WI between 90 - 100 lbs, there have been reports over some caught over 100 lbs.

[from the sea]

Lutjanus argentimaculatus that is the scientific name for mangrove jack

Lutjanus griseus this is the mangrove snapper

they are related, but they are diffrent species one in the atlantic, one in the pacific

[from the sea]

thats a nice fish!

[x-ring]

Like many animals around the world with diffrent species. The differentiating quality may only be geographic isolation. Take the Ivory billed woodpecker (extinct) and the pale billed woodpecker found throught central america for an example.

[redhotpokr]

nice fish,it does resemble our mangrove snapper in the gulf of mex.is that a particularly large specimen?

[Kettle]

Thanks guys, it is a decent size, but no monster. They grow to around 8.7Kg. I believe it is a different species to both the cubera snapper and the mangrove snapper that you are talking about, though obviously similar. I reckon they are one of the best eating fish I've tasted. They aren't very common around where I usually dive so finding this one was quite a treat. Have fun guys.