red snapper project C.A.B

Snapper

Introduction
Red snapper or the Lutjanus campechanus are the most common fish that people like to fish from the salty waters because they make delicious meals.

Threats

The snapper prefer to live near rocks by the coral reef. The reason they hang around those areas is because they are much harder to find by their predators. Did you know we are on their list for predators? If there are no rocks for the snapper they will hang round the depths of 15 metres to 60 metres deep. But they can be found about 200 metres deep. Their predators include barracuda who are deadly to anything that is made out of flesh and bone. Sharks, commonly Mako sharks and Great White sharks, are also high on their predator list. These predatory animals only eat Juvenile’s because they are easy targets. There is also no law saying they can’t eat snapper smaller than 8 centimeters. At Matai bay, there is a restriction saying you are not to fish there. It is called a Rahui.

Diet

These common fish have an extraordinary but small diet. They are predators to fish we are not likely to know about. The Lutjanus campechanus eat small fish known as the zooplankton, shrimp, octopus and a few more other other fish like mollusks. But they can still be real scavengers sometimes. 

Breeding

Did you know that red snapper can lay up to 75 million eggs at a time? But now they can only breed up to 36,00 eggs.Spawning starts early may and the process takes 120 days. But the snapper have to mature to 3 to 4 years old before they can breed.When they are at the age they are supposed to be they are about 20 to 28 centimeters long. They can live for over 60 years and grow up to 105 centimeters. They start to lay eggs through spring and summer. Female snapper find a partner in October and sometimes February. the male attracts the female by swimming circles around her 

Population

Did you know a snapper population is about 14 million? And if they keep breeding who knows how many there may be. In 2016 people over the far north caught all together 14 million snapper. For snapper you’re allowed to catch seven snapper maximum.

Description

Snapper are copper - pink on top. They also have a numerous amount of blue spots on their sides. On their underbellies they have a silvery patch of scales. They are populated in the warm waters of NZ They're an abundance of them near a place called Hauraki Gulf. How to measure a snapper When you measure a snapper you should measure from the tip of the head to the curve of the tail. Most people go from tip of the head to the tip of the tail.

 Cool new facts

A red snapper can live up to 60 years old. You know that they are old when they have a bump on their foreheads from crushing kina. Their nickname is old man snapper. Snapper can also be known as the Pagrus auratus that’s one of the many scientific names out of the many species they have. The maori name for snapper it is tāmure.