Mangrove Snapper
Mangrove Snapper (Lutjanus griseus) is a saltwater species. The first thing to check: grey to coppery-red body with no bold stripes or spots on adults, and a dark band through the eye on juveniles. The look-alike to rule out is Cubera Snapper: cubera grow far larger, have a broader head and their vomerine tooth patch is crescent-shaped without a rearward extension.
Last updated
| Scientific name | Lutjanus griseus |
|---|---|
| Also called | gray snapper, mango, black snapper |
| Water | Saltwater |
| Group | Snapper |
| Temperature | Feeds well from about 68 to 84 °F, moving offshore as inshore water cools. |
How to identify a Mangrove Snapper
- Grey to coppery-red body with no bold stripes or spots on adults, and a dark band through the eye on juveniles.
- Two prominent canine teeth at the front of the upper jaw.
- A rounded anal fin and a distinctly triangular, pointed snout.
If you would rather not work through a key on a wet deck, photograph the fish and let the app name it — you get the common and the scientific name back, and the record is filed before you release.
Fish it is mistaken for
| Species | How to tell them apart |
|---|---|
| Cubera Snapper | Cubera grow far larger, have a broader head and their vomerine tooth patch is crescent-shaped without a rearward extension. |
| Schoolmaster | Schoolmaster have pale vertical bars and bright yellow fins; mangrove snapper fins are dusky. |
Side-by-side comparisons
Read the full entry for Cubera Snapper.
Where it lives
Florida, the Gulf, the Caribbean and the south Atlantic. Juveniles live in mangroves, seagrass and dock structure inshore; adults move to reefs, wrecks and ledges offshore.
Temperature
Feeds well from about 68 to 84 °F, moving offshore as inshore water cools.
The conditions that matter
Inshore mangrove snapper are tide and structure fish, feeding on moving water around docks, bridges and mangrove edges, and they feed hardest at night and in low light. Offshore, the summer spawning aggregations gather around the full moon — moon phase and tide stage on each catch is the record that predicts those.
Global Fishing League records 18 weather and water readings against every catch automatically — tide stage, barometric pressure, water temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, chlorophyll, swell, current, moon phase and more, taken at your GPS position at the moment you log the fish. Over a season that turns a hunch about mangrove snapper into a pattern you can read.
See every reading recorded with a catch, or the guides to what each reading means.
Size limits, bag limits and seasons
Size limits, bag limits, slot limits and seasons are set by your state wildlife agency — and for many offshore and migratory species by federal regulators — and on many waters they differ from the statewide rule. They also change between seasons. Check the current regulations for the exact water you are fishing before you keep a fish — we do not republish limits here, because a number that is a season out of date is worse than no number.
What the app does do is make your side of it accurate: every catch carries a length measured from the photograph, a GPS position and a timestamp, exportable if you ever need to show your work for a tournament or a record claim. It is also what a Global Fishing League entry is built from — a record that verifies itself, without publishing where you caught the fish.