Fish
Fish
Yellowtail Snapper
Ocyurus chrysurus
The Yellowtail Snapper is a slender, brightly marked reef fish common around Tobago, easily recognised by the bold yellow stripe running from snout to a deeply forked, all-yellow tail.
The Yellowtail Snapper is a slender, brightly marked reef fish common around Tobago, easily recognised by the bold yellow stripe running from snout to a deeply forked, all-yellow tail.
Identification
A slender fish around 25 to 40 cm long, bluish-grey above and silvery-white below, with a bright yellow lateral stripe running the length of the body from the eye to the tail, and a deeply forked, entirely yellow tail fin. Scattered yellow spots often mark the upper flanks above the main stripe.
Behaviour
Forms loose to moderately large schools over and near coral reefs, feeding higher in the water column than many other snapper species, taking small fish, plankton, and invertebrates both by day and into twilight hours. It is more free-swimming and less strictly bottom-associated than most reef snappers.
Status in T&T
Common on reefs around Tobago, an important food and recreational fishing species. Not considered globally threatened. It is protected as native wildlife under the Conservation of Wildlife Act and managed as part of the local reef fishery.
Threats
- Overfishing on reef fishing grounds
