Lutjanus indicus

Background

Lutjanus indicus was first formally described in 2013 by Gerald R. Allen, William T. White and Mark V. Erdmann, with the type locality given as Trincomalee in Sri Lanka. The specific name indicus refers to the Indian Ocean. Within the genus Lutjanus, it is closest to the Western Pacific L. russellii, and it appears to be the western sister species of that fish. Records of L. russellii from the Red Sea, Eastern Africa, Madagascar, the Seychelles and the Mascarenes are likely to be of L. indicus, but this needs confirmation.

The striped snapper has a spindle-shaped body with a steeply sloped forehead and a large mouth. Its coloration is pale grey shading to silvery white on the lower body, with seven dark brown to yellow horizontal stripes on the back of the head and flanks. A distinctive black spot, larger than the eye, is present on the back underneath the first 6-7 dorsal fin rays, extending to just below the lateral line. The maximum recorded standard length is 22.6 cm.

Lutjanus indicus is known with certainty from the Persian Gulf and Sea of Oman, along the northern shores of the Indian Ocean to eastern India, the Gulf of Mannar, and western Thailand. It has been observed in coral reef habitat at depths between 5 and 15 m, though it has been trawled from as deep as 50 m. It is thought that juveniles inhabit brackish habitats such as mangroves and estuaries, even reaching into lower parts of freshwater streams, similar to L. russellii.