Vermilion snapper (Rhomboplites aurorubens) is a saltwater species recorded in the United States. It is found at depths of 40–300 m.
Scientific name: Rhomboplites aurorubens · Water: Saltwater
Size: up to 60 cm
The vermilion snapper is a demersal lutjanid whose adults are found in moderately deep water, most commonly over rock, gravel or sand bottoms near the edge of the continental and island shelves, often in large schools, with young fish in shallower water that also often form large schools. It is recorded from 40 to 300 m. It feeds on fishes, shrimps, crabs, polychaetes, other benthic invertebrates, cephalopods and planktonic organisms, and it is a good food fish. Its range is the western Atlantic, from Bermuda and North Carolina to Sao Paulo in Brazil, including the West Indies, the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea. Maximum length is about 60 cm total length, commonly about 35 cm, and it can live 13 years, maturing at about 19 cm. It is a minor commercial species and a gamefish, with a very high price category. Fishing vulnerability is moderate to high at 50 of 100 and resilience low, and climate vulnerability is high to very high at 74 of 100. IUCN lists it as vulnerable.
Back to home · United States · Species library