Vermilion Snapper
Vermilion Snapper (Rhomboplites aurorubens) is a saltwater species. The first thing to check: a rounded anal fin — red snapper have a sharply pointed one, and this is the check that matters most. The look-alike to rule out is Red Snapper: the pointed anal fin, red iris, larger mouth and deeper body of a red snapper separate them. This pairing matters, because the two carry very different regulations.
Last updated
| Scientific name | Rhomboplites aurorubens |
|---|---|
| Also called | beeliner, mingo |
| Water | Saltwater |
| Group | Snapper |
| Temperature | Holds at depth in water from about 60 to 78 °F. |
How to identify a Vermilion Snapper
- A rounded anal fin — red snapper have a sharply pointed one, and this is the check that matters most.
- Fine yellow-gold streaks running diagonally along the lower flank over vermilion red.
- A small mouth and large eye, with a slender body far less deep than a red snapper's.
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 |
|---|---|
| Red Snapper | The pointed anal fin, red iris, larger mouth and deeper body of a red snapper separate them. This pairing matters, because the two carry very different regulations. |
| Lane Snapper | Lane snapper have horizontal yellow stripes and a dark flank blotch that vermilion lack. |
Side-by-side comparisons
Read the full entry for Red Snapper and Lane Snapper.
Where it lives
Gulf of Mexico and the south Atlantic. Schools over hard bottom, ledges and reefs typically in 80 to 350 feet, often above the red snapper holding on the same structure.
Temperature
Holds at depth in water from about 60 to 78 °F.
The conditions that matter
Vermilion school up off the bottom over hard structure and feed on current. The practical variable is current speed over the piece — a slack tide scatters them and a running one stacks them above the reef.
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 vermilion 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.