Common Name: Mangrove Jack

Distribution: Common in the Solitary Islands Marine Park. Distributed throughout the Indo-West Pacific: East Africa to Samoa and the Line Islands, north to the Ryukyu Islands. Reportedly introduced to the eastern Mediterranean Sea. In Australia recorded from Exmouth in Western Australia, across the tropical north, throughout the Gulf of Carpentaria, the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland, south to the Victorian border and including Lord Howe Island.

Ecological Notes: Juveniles frequent estuaries and lower reaches of freshwater streams. Adults offshore over rocky and coral reefs, depth to 100 m.

Additional Notes: Stout body of reddish colour, lacks the darker fins and prominent groove in front of eyes of similar looking Lutjanus bohar. Mostly nocturnal, feeds on small fishes and crustaceans. Powerful fish, keenly sought by anglers. Grows to 16 kg and 1.2 m long.

References: R. Stuart-Smith, G. Edgar, A. Green, I. Shaw, Tropical Marine Fishes of Australia. Reed New Holland Publishers, 2015. p.149.

Atlas of Living Australia website at https://bie.ala.org.au/search?q=Lutjanus+argentimaculatus. Accessed 04/06/18.

FishBase. Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2018. World Wide Web electronic publication. https://fishbase.ca/summary/Lutjanus-argentimaculatus.html. Accessed 04/06/18.