Pristipomoides multidens

The goldbanded jobfish, also known as the goldbanded snapper, is a ray-finned fish in the family Lutjanidae. It is a deepwater, demersal species that lives over hard, rocky, and bumpy substrates at depths between 40 and 245 meters. Its body is elongated and robust, with a depth about one-third of its standard length. The space between its eyes is flat, and its lower jaw protrudes slightly.

Description

The fish has an outer row of conical and canine-like teeth in both jaws, with the front two to three pairs of canines enlarged, plus an inner band of bristle-like teeth. The vomerine teeth form a triangular patch, and the tongue has no teeth. The dorsal fin has 10 spines and 11 soft rays, while the anal fin has 3 spines and 8 soft rays; both fins lack scales at their bases, and their last soft ray extends into a short filament. The long pectoral fins reach the anus and have 15 or 16 rays, and the caudal fin is forked.

Coloration ranges from yellowish to pale pink, marked with six interrupted golden stripes on the flanks. The snout side and cheek have two blue-edged golden stripes, and the crown shows a series of yellow chevrons pointing toward the snout. The dorsal fin has yellowish stripes or lines of spots. This species reaches a maximum total length of 90 cm, though 70 cm is more typical.

Taxonomy

The goldbanded jobfish was first formally described in 1871 as Mesoprion multidens by English zoologist Francis Day, with the type locality given as the Andaman Islands. Its specific name combines multi (many) and dens (teeth), referring to the six canine teeth in the lower jaw and the two larger ones in the upper jaw. An older name, Diacope sparus, was coined by Temminck and Schlegel in 1842 and has been considered a synonym, but it is uncertain which taxon the supposed type specimen of D. sparus represents.

Distribution and habitat

This snapper has a wide Indo-Pacific distribution, occurring along the eastern African coast in Tanzania, Mozambique, and South Africa, in the Red Sea, and across the Indian Ocean (excluding the Arabian Sea) into the Pacific, where its range extends east to Samoa, north to Japan, and south to Australia. It is a sociable species that forms schools over hard, rocky, and uneven seabeds near steep drop-offs. Like other snappers, it is predatory, feeding on fishes, crustaceans, squids, gastropods, and urochordates.