Onespot snapper

This marine fish belongs to the order Perciformes and family Lutjanidae in the class Osteichthyes. It is widely distributed in the Pacific and Indian Oceans, including southern Japan south of Shizuoka Prefecture, the Ryukyu Islands, the Ogasawara Islands, the South China Sea, and the east coast of the Korean Peninsula. Its body is spat-shaped. Its body height is more than one-third of its body length. The leading edge of the head does not slope steeply. The depression and protrusion of the preopercular bone are not very developed. The width of the suborbital bone is roughly equal to the eye diameter. Its mouth is large, with the rear end of the maxilla extending slightly beyond the leading edge of the eye. The tooth band on the vomer (the bone at the front end of the skull floor) is crescent-shaped and does not extend backward. It has no teeth on its tongue. The rear ends of its dorsal and anal fins are rounded or slightly angular. The rear end of the caudal fin is truncated (the rear edge is straight above and below) or slightly indented. The row of scales on the back of the body runs diagonally upward above the lateral line. The sides of the body are yellow to pink, with dark edges of each scale. The back of the body and head are gray or brown. There is a black spot smaller than the eye diameter on the lateral line below the soft part of the dorsal fin, but in some individuals it is unclear. Each fin is yellow. The maximum total length is about 60 centimeters, but usually up to 50 centimeters. It lives alone or in small schools at depths of 5 to 30 meters in coastal reefs and coral reefs. Juveniles and immature fish are found in shallow mangrove areas and estuaries. It feeds on fish and benthic crustaceans. It is caught by line fishing, drive nets, and gill nets, and is prepared as sashimi, grilled dishes, and meunière. It can cause ciguatera poisoning. In Okinawa, it is called Hishi Yamatobi. It resembles the black spotted snapper because of the distinct black spots on its sides, but this species can be distinguished by the fact that the tooth band on the vomer is crescent-shaped and does not extend backwards.

[Kunio Amagaoka January 19, 2018]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

硬骨魚綱スズキ目フエダイ科に属する海水魚。静岡県以南の南日本、南西諸島、小笠原(おがさわら)諸島、南シナ海、朝鮮半島東岸など太平洋、インド洋に広く分布する。体はタイ形。体高は体長の3分の1以上。頭部前縁の傾斜は急でない。前鰓蓋骨(ぜんさいがいこつ)のくぼみと突起はそれほど発達しない。眼下骨幅はおよそ眼径に等しい。口は大きく、上顎(じょうがく)の後端は目の前縁をわずかに越える。鋤骨(じょこつ)（頭蓋(とうがい)床の最前端にある骨）の歯帯は半月形で、後方に伸びない。舌上に歯がない。背びれと臀(しり)びれの後端は丸いか、わずかに角張る。尾びれの後端は截形(せっけい)（後縁が上下に直線状）か、わずかに湾入する。体の背部の鱗列(りんれつ)は、側線の上方で斜め上方に向かう。体の側面は黄色から桃色で、各鱗の縁辺は暗色。体と頭の背面は灰色または褐色。背びれ軟条部の下方の側線上に眼径より小さい黒斑(こくはん)があるが、不明瞭(ふめいりょう)な個体もいる。各ひれは黄色。最大全長は約60センチメートルであるが、普通は50センチメートルまで。沿岸の岩礁やサンゴ礁域の水深5～30メートルに単独または小さい群れで生息する。稚魚から未成魚は浅いマングローブ域や河口域でみられる。魚類、底生の甲殻類などを食べる。一本釣り、追込み網、刺網(さしあみ)などで漁獲され、刺身、焼き物、ムニエルなどにする。シガテラ中毒をおこすことがある。沖縄ではヒシヤマトビーとよぶ。体側に明瞭な黒斑があることでクロホシフエダイに似るが、本種は鋤骨の歯帯が半月形で後方へ伸びないことで区別できる。

［尼岡邦夫　2018年1月19日］

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