{{Short description|Species of fish}} {{Speciesbox | image = Lutjanus jocu SI3.jpg | status = DD | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 20 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=Lindeman, K. |author2=Anderson, W. |author3=Carpenter, K.E. |author4=Claro, R. |author5=Cowan, J. |author6=Padovani-Ferreira, B. |author7=Rocha, L.A. |author8=Sedberry, G. |author9=Zapp-Sluis, M. |date=2016 |title=''Lutjanus jocu'' |volume=2016 |article-number=e.T190221A1944443 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-1.RLTS.T190221A1944443.en |access-date=20 November 2021}}</ref> | taxon = Lutjanus jocu | authority = (Bloch & J. G. Schneider, 1801) | synonyms = * ''Anthias jocu'' <small>Bloch & J. G. Schneider, 1801</small> * ''Mesoprion litura'' <small>G. Cuvier, 1828</small> | range_map = Lutjanus jocu range.png | synonyms_ref = <ref name = FishBase>{{FishBase|Lutjanus|jocu|month=February|year=2021}}</ref> }}
The '''dog snapper''' ('''''Lutjanus jocu'''''), also known as the '''dogtooth snapper''', '''pargue''' or '''snuggletooth snapper''', is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a snapper belonging to the family Lutjanidae. It is native to the Atlantic Ocean. It is a commercially important species, and is popular for display in public aquaria.
==Taxonomy== The dog snapper was first formally described in 1801 as ''Anthias jocu'' by the German naturalists Marcus Elieser Bloch and Johann Gottlob Schneider with no type locality given, although this is thought to be Havana.<ref name = CofF>{{Cof genus | genus = Lutjanus | access-date = 15 June 2021}}</ref> The specific name ''jocu'' is the local name for this species in Cuba, according to the Portuguese naturalist Antonio Parra.<ref name = ETYFish>{{cite web | url = https://etyfish.org/lutjaniformes/ | title = Order LUTJANIFORMES: Families HAEMULIDAE and LUTJANIDAE | work = The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database | editor1 = Christopher Scharpf | editor2 = Kenneth J. Lazara | name-list-style = and | date = 5 January 2021 | access-date = 12 June 2021 | publisher = Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara | archive-date = 12 April 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210412135037/https://etyfish.org/lutjaniformes/ }}</ref>
==Description== The dog snapper has a relatively deep, compressed body.<ref name = STRI>{{cite web | url = https://biogeodb.stri.si.edu/caribbean/en/thefishes/species/3689 | title = Species: Lutjanus jocu, Dog snapper | access-date = 15 June 2021 | work = Shorefishes of the Greater Caribbean online information system | publisher = Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute}}</ref> It has long pectoral fins, an emarginate or slightly forked caudal fin, a rounded anal fin and a bilobed dorsal fin.<ref name = DF>{{cite web | url = https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/discover-fish/species-profiles/lutjanus-jocu/ | title = Lutjanus jocu | access-date = 15 June 2021 | work = Discover Fishes | author = Rebecca Murray | publisher = Florida Museum}}</ref> Its nostrils are arranged in front and rear pairs and are simple tubes. It has a relatively large mouth which has a moderately protrusible upper jaw which slips under the cheekbone in the closed mouth.<ref name = STRI/> A pair of very enlarged canine-like teeth in the upper jaw stay visible when the mouth is closed. The vomerine teeth are arranged in a chevron or crescent shape with a long rearwards extension running from its middle,<ref name = FAO>{{cite book | author = Gerald R. Allen | year = 1985 | title = FAO species catalogue Vol.6. Snappers of the world An annotated and illustrated catalogue of lutjanid species known to date | pages = 92–93 | publisher = FAO Rome | isbn = 92-5-102321-2 | url = https://www.fao.org/3/ac481e/ac481e25.pdf}}</ref> creating an anchor like shape. There is also a patch of teeth on each side of the roof of the mouth.<ref name = STRI/> The preoperculum has a weakly developed incision and knob.<ref name = FAO/> The dorsal fin has 10 spines and 14–15 soft rays while the anal fin contains 3 spines and 8 soft rays.<ref name = FishBase/> The long perctoral fin extends as far as the anus and contains16-17 rays.<ref name = FAO/> This fish attains a maximum total length of {{cvt|128|cm}}, although {{cvt|60|cm}} is more typical, and the maximum published weight is {{cvt|28.6|kg}}.<ref name = FishBase/> The adults have olive green upper flanks and backs, which may be marked with slender light-coloured bars. The lower flanks and abdomen are pale red and copper. Beneath the eyes there is a white triangular bar. The pectoral, pelvic, anal fins and outer parts of the soft rayed part of the dorsal fin and the caudal fin are reddish, while the remainder of the dorsal and caudal fins are olive green in colour. The juveniles have a longitudinal blue line underneath the eye extending on to the gill cover, this breaks up into a line of spots in the adults.<ref name = DF/>
==Distribution and habitat== Dog snapper is mainly found in the western Atlantic Ocean where their range extends from Massachusetts south to São Paulo in Brazil, including the Bermuda, the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico and from Saint Paul's Rocks south to Principe in the eastern Atlantic.<ref name=FishBase/> A first single record<ref>Atlas of Exotic Fishes in the Mediterranean Sea (''Lutjanus jocu''). 2nd Edition. 2021. 366p. CIESM Publishers, Paris, Monaco.https://ciesm.org/atlas/fishes_2nd_edition/Lutjanus_jocu.pdf</ref> was reported for the Mediterranean Sea in 2005 in Ligurian waters, Italy.<ref name = VPM>{{cite journal | author1 = Vacchi, Marino | author2 = Psomadakis, Peter | author3 = Repetto, N | author4 = Maurizio, Wurtz | name-list-style = amp | year = 2010 | title = First record of the dog snapper Lutjanus jocu in the Mediterranean Sea | journal = Journal of Fish Biology | volume = 76 | issue = 3 | pages = 723–8 | doi = 10.1111/j.1095-8649.2009.02505.x| pmid = 20666909 | bibcode = 2010JFBio..76..723V }}</ref> Adults are generally found around rocky outcrops or coral reefs, while juveniles tend to remain primarily within estuaries and occasionally within rivers.<ref name=FishBase/> Dog snappers are known to have occurred at depths in excess of {{cvt|100|m}} in some areas but they are more frequent at depths of {{cvt|5|to|30|m}}.<ref name="iucn status 20 November 2021" />
==Biology== Dog snappers tend to be solitary, aggregating to spawn in the early spring.<ref name = NG>{{cite web | url = https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/fish/facts/dog-snapper | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210616043247/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/fish/facts/dog-snapper | archive-date = June 16, 2021 | title = Dog snapper | access-date = 15 June 2021 | publisher = National Geographic}}</ref>
===Feeding=== Dog snappers are nocturnal predators, and prey on smaller fish and benthic invertebrates, including crustaceans (including crabs and shrimps), gastropods, and cephalopods.<ref name = DF/><ref>{{Cite web |title=Lutjanus jocu (Dog Snapper or Dogteeth Pargue) |url=https://sta.uwi.edu/fst/lifesciences/sites/default/files/lifesciences/documents/ogatt/Lutjanus_jocu%20-%20Dog%20Snapper%20or%20Dogteeth%20Pargue.pdf |access-date=22 Oct 2025 |website=sta.uwi.edu}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.fishbase.se/summary/lutjanus-jocu | title=Lutjanus jocu summary page }}</ref>
===Breeding=== Dog snappers have their main breeding grounds off Jamaica and in the northeastern Caribbean where they typically spawn during March. They do spawn elsewhere in their range but not to the same extents as in the early Spring in the Caribbean.<ref name = DF/> They may form spawning aggregations, often mixed with Cubera snappers (''L. cyanopterus''). Off Brazil they spawn twice a year and the gonads are most developed between June and October.<ref name="iucn status 20 November 2021" /> This species has planktonic eggs and larvae which are spread by the current. Little is known about the development of the larvae until the post-larval stage finally settles into suitable habitat where it gains a measure of protection from predators.<ref name = DF/>
===Predators and parasites=== Dog snappers are preyed on by large predatory fish such as sharks and groupers as adults, smaller fish are prey to a number of different marine animals. monogenean worms from the genus ''Euryhaliotrema'' have been recorded living on the gills of different snapper species, including this species.<ref name = DF/> Copepods of the genus ''Caligus'', the Acanthocephalan worm ''Gorgorhynchus cablei'', the digeneans in the genus ''Hamacreadium'', ''Helicometrina'' and Metadena are also known to be parasites on dog snappers.<ref name = WoRMS>{{cite WoRMS |author= Bailly, Nicolas |year= 2008 |title= ''Lutjanus jocu'' (Bloch & Schneider, 1801) |id= 159798 |access-date=15 June 2021}}</ref>
==Fisheries and conservation== The dog snapper has been known to be ciguatoxic, especially the larger specimens, and in areas where this is known there is little interest in fishing for this species. However, where ciguatoxicity is rare this species is a valued food fish and is pursued by commercial fisheries.<ref name="iucn status 20 November 2021" /> They are caught using handlines, gill nets, traps, seines, and spears.<ref name = DF/> The catch is sold as fresh and frozen fish.<ref name = FAO/> This species seems to be overexploited in some of its range and the juvenile mangrove habitat is threatened by coastal development. In most of its range no catch data is collected and as a result of the lack of data, the perceived decline and the habitat loss for juveniles the IUCN has classified this species as Data Deficient. It is sometimes display in public aquaria.<ref name="iucn status 20 November 2021" />
==References== {{Reflist}} {{Commons category-inline|Lutjanus jocu}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q955345}}
dog snapper Category:Fish of the Eastern United States Category:Fish of the Western Atlantic Category:Fish of the Caribbean Category:Taxa named by Marcus Elieser Bloch Category:Taxa named by Johann Gottlob Theaenus Schneider dog snapper