MUTTON SNAPPER
Lutjanus analis
English: mutton snapper, mutton fish, king snapper, virgin snapper, and snapper.
Spanish: pargo, pargo cebado, pargo cebal, pargo colorado, pargo criollo, pargo mulato, and sama
Mutton snappers are very colorful, with olive green on their backs and upper sides and a red tinge on the lower sides and undersides. There is a distinct black spot on the upper back and blue stripes on the cheek region below the eye. There are two color phases, barred which is seen when the fish is resting and plain color seen when the fish is swimming. The anal fin is pointed and there is a small black spot below the dorsal fin.
They are sometimes confused with the lane snapper, but the lane snapper has yellow pelvic fins and a round anal fin while all of the mutton snapper's fins are red and the anal fin is pointed. The caudal fin margin is black.
The mutton snapper has an average length of 20 inches (50 cm), with a maximum length of 34.8 inches (88.5 cm) total length.
The mutton snapper is a popular game and an exceptionally good quality food fish.