snapper

/snap"euhr/, n., pl. (esp. collectively) snapper, (esp. referring to two or more kinds or species) snappers for 1, 2; snappers for 3, 4, 5.

1. any of several large marine food fishes of the family Lutjanidae.

2. any of various other fishes, as the bluefish, Pomatomus saltatrix.

3. See snapping turtle.

4. Informal. a person in charge of a group of workers.

5. a tuft or knot of cotton, horsehair, hemp, etc., at the tip of a whip's lash; cracker; popper.

[1525-35; SNAP + -ER¹]

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Any of about 250 species of valuable food fishes (family Lutjanidae), found throughout the tropics.

These active schooling fishes have slender bodies, large mouths, sharp canine teeth, and blunt or forked tails. Many species grow to 2–3 ft (60–90 cm) long. Snappers eat crustaceans and other fishes. Some species, such as the Atlantic dog snapper, contain a toxin. The red snapper, a bright red fish, inhabits deep Atlantic waters. The emperor snapper is a red-and-white Indo-Pacific fish. The Atlantic yellowtail snapper has a broad yellow stripe from the nose to the wholly yellow tail.

Red spot snapper (Lethrinus variegatus)

Douglas Faulkner

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▪ fish

 any of about105 species of fishes of the family Lutjanidae (order Perciformes). Snappers are found, often in abundance, throughout the tropics. Active, schooling fishes with elongated bodies, large mouths, sharp canine teeth, and blunt or forked tails, snappers are usually rather large, many attaining a length of 60–90 centimetres (2–3 feet). They are carnivores and prey on crustaceans and other fishes.

      Snappers are valuable and well-regarded food fishes. Some, however, such as the dog snapper (Lutjanus jocu) of the Atlantic, may contain a toxic substance and cause ciguatera, a form of poisoning. The better known species of snapper include the emperor snapper (L. sebae), a red and white Indo-Pacific fish; the gray, or mangrove, snapper (L. griseus), a gray, reddish, or greenish Atlantic fish; the yellowtail snapper (Ocyurus chrysurus), a swift-moving Atlantic species with a broad, yellow stripe from the nose to the wholly yellow tail; and the red snapper (Lutjanus campechanus), a bright-red fish (one of several red-coloured snappers) famed as food and found in rather deep Atlantic waters.

      The bluefish (q.v.), of the family Pomatomidae, is also sometimes called a snapper.

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