Macolor macularis

The midnight snapper, also called the midnight seaperch or black and white snapper, is a marine fish in the Lutjanidae family. It lives in the Indian Ocean and the western Pacific Ocean.

Taxonomy

American ichthyologist Henry Weed Fowler first described this species in 1931, based on a specimen from near Ragay Gulf on Luzon. Its scientific name, Macolor macularis, means "spotted," likely referring to the gray or blue spots on its scales.

Distribution and habitat

Its range across the Indo-West Pacific is not fully known because it is often confused with the similar species Macolor niger. It has been recorded in the Chagos Islands, the Maldives, and southwestern India.

In the Pacific, it appears from the Andaman Sea and Sumatra east to Samoa and the Phoenix Islands, north to Taiwan and Japan’s Yaeyama Islands, and south to Australia. In Australian waters, it occurs on offshore reefs in northern Western Australia, Ashmore Reef in the Timor Sea, the Arafura Sea in the Northern Territory, and the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland. It also lives around Coral Sea reefs and Christmas Island.

Adults inhabit steep slopes of lagoons, channels, or seaward reefs, often on deep reef slopes. Juveniles live alone on sheltered reef slopes among crinoids, staghorn coral, or large sponges.

Description

This species reaches a maximum total length of 60 cm (24 in). Adults are dark grey-brown on the upper body, shading to yellow on the head and lower body. Thin blue lines and small spots mark the head, and the body scales have blue lines or dashes.

Juveniles have a black-and-white piebald pattern with five white spots on the back. Subadults look similar but have more white spots on the back and small white spots in black areas. Smaller adults still show hints of the juvenile pattern.

The body is moderately deep, with a convex forehead and a large mouth. The preoperculum has a deep notch on its lower edge. The jaws have a row of conical teeth, with larger ones in front, and bands of bristle-like teeth inside the outer row on the sides of the upper jaw and front of the lower jaw. The vomerine teeth form a roughly chevron-shaped patch.

The dorsal fin has 10 spines and 13–14 soft rays; the anal fin has 3 spines and 10 soft rays. The rear tips of both dorsal and anal fins are clearly pointed. The long pectoral fins reach the level of the anus and have 17 or 18 rays. The caudal fin is emarginate.