Crimson snapper
Lutjanus erythropterus
Illustration: Bloom by Day
Plain pink-red all over, fins included, with a small mouth and a forehead that rises steeply — the old names are "small-mouth nannygai" and "high-brow sea-perch". It schools with saddletails over deeper rubble, which is exactly why the two get confused.
how to recognise it
- pink to red all over, fins included, sometimes with a darker tail margin
- a small mouth and a steeply rising forehead — its other names are "small-mouth nannygai" and "high-brow sea-perch"
- no saddle and no bands on an adult
- young fish have a broad oblique black band from the mouth through the eye to the dorsal fin, and a large dark spot on the tail base
don’t confuse with
- Saddletail snapper — the saddletail has a LARGE mouth and a deeper body, and runs red-orange rather than pink
- Hussar — the hussar has a golden side stripe and a golden patch around the eye; the crimson snapper is plain red
- Rosy snapper — the rosy snapper has yellow lines and blue dots on the snout and reddish-orange margins on lavender fins. Fishes of Australia also lists "Crimson Snapper" as a name for IT, so go by the marks and not the name
Field marks read from Fishes of Australia, 2026-10-15. Our wording, their facts. Max size 58 cm TL.
facts
- habitat
- reef
- size
- ~40 cm, to 58 cm
Max size from Fishes of Australia (58 cm TL); the typical size is Bluebird’s, not from a cited source
- records near here
- 2 at 1 of 6 spots
A count of occurrence records near these spots, not abundance. Records are where someone looked.
when it has been recorded
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A gap means no record in the sample, not absence.
the rule
QLD — Min: 40cm · Combined limit: 9 in total of crimson and saddletail snapper
source
· verified 2026-10-10
no NSW rule listed — check before you dive
no closed season recorded for this species — that is not the same as open; check the official page
Rules checked 2026-10-13 against qld.gov.au
Rules change. Check before you dive.
Occurrence data: Atlas of Living Australia (ala.org.au), CC-BY 4.0.
Diver transect counts: Reef Life Survey (reeflifesurvey.com), CC-BY 4.0, supplied via ALA.
Target and protected species: Queensland tidal-water size and possession limits (qld.gov.au) and NSW saltwater bag and size limits plus threatened species lists (dpird.nsw.gov.au).
Habitat and size: Bluebird, approximate, from general knowledge. Not cited. FishBase is CC BY-NC and this app is commercial, so it is not used.
Description written for Bloom. RECORDS ARE WHERE SOMEONE LOOKED, NOT WHERE THE FISH ARE. A record count is a count of records near here and nothing else -- it is not abundance, and a species with few records is not rare. Absence of records is not absence of fish.
Diver transect counts: Reef Life Survey (reeflifesurvey.com), CC-BY 4.0, supplied via ALA.
Target and protected species: Queensland tidal-water size and possession limits (qld.gov.au) and NSW saltwater bag and size limits plus threatened species lists (dpird.nsw.gov.au).
Habitat and size: Bluebird, approximate, from general knowledge. Not cited. FishBase is CC BY-NC and this app is commercial, so it is not used.
Description written for Bloom. RECORDS ARE WHERE SOMEONE LOOKED, NOT WHERE THE FISH ARE. A record count is a count of records near here and nothing else -- it is not abundance, and a species with few records is not rare. Absence of records is not absence of fish.