Mangrove red snapper :

EnglishName: Mangrove red snapper
Local Name : Odidhoshumas
Size : Common to 80 cm; max. 1.2 m
Family: Order : Specimen
Distinctive Characters: Dorsal fin with 10 spines and 13-15 rays. Anal fin with 3 spines and 8-9 rays. Pectoral fin with 16-17 rays. Body deep; body depth 2.5-3.1 in standard length. Dorsal scale rows horizontal; sometimes rising obliquely posteriorly; rarely rising obliquely over entire length. Crescent shaped tooth patch on roof of mouth.
Colour: Greenish brown to reddish. Belly whiter. Some individuals with 1 or 2 blue lines under eye. Juveniles with faint banding on sides.
Habitat and Biology: Young specimens found in big lagoons and around mangroves; brown coloured. Adults live in deeper reef areas to depths of 100 m; red coloured. Feeds on fishes and crustaceans.
Distribution: Indo-West Pacific.
Remarks: Lutjanus argentimaculatus is not a particularly common species in the Maldives, but individuals are sometimes caught with handlines at night. It can easily be confused with L. bohar, but this has all scale rows above the lateral line clearly oblique.

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