Red Snapper

Travis, it's definitely not a mutton. Not a bad guess, the shape and overall coloration are almost identical. If it had a single dark spot on its side it would have been.

I disagree. The elongated pectoral fin and pointed anal fin are characteristics of red snapper. Mangroves have rounded anal fins, and shorter pectoral fins. Here is a clearer picture.

Attachment 6961

When i google Google red snapper vs. Mangrove snapper one of the first results is a pdf with a side by side comparison.

Attachment 6960

Edit - the resolution of both pictures is degrading when i upload but I have a clearer image on my phone that allows you to see the pectoral and anal fins clearly.

There were several juvenile red snapper caught Sunday, a couple of which still had the dark spot on the side.

Red snapper

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Originally Posted by DRH

Fiver, you also didn't identify the species before throwing it back. That surely looks to be a mangrove snapper, aka grey snapper.

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Nope, that is clearly a red snapper

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Originally Posted by travis

The guy from Indiana has a question that may be silly.........
Any chance its a Mutton Snapper?

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Been fishing here since 1994, I don't ever recall anyone catching a mutton here, even when I bottom fished offshore a lot.

That photo shows a Lutjanus Campechanus, no doubt, no question in my mind. Red snapper. Haywire has spoken---thus it shall be.

So say we all?

So say we all.

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Originally Posted by DRH

That is what happens to mangrove snapper when they start getting some size to them, get darker red. I consider them to be the most intelligent fish I've caught and capable of learning to a degree. When and if this fish is caught again it will most likely be two feet long and the color of a wet red brick.

If it was a red snapper, you would see white on the bottom. Which makes their red appear pink. No white or pink, not a RS.

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That would explain it since I struggle to hook and land the 11 inchers under the pier. I have never seen a 24" mangrove.