Immature snapper

[Steve_C]

This little fellow was hanging out with a hogfish in Jules. So the environment was shallow near a mangrove area. I cannot pin it down. My best guess is an immature grey snapper due to the eye stripe, dark tail. Pictures I have seen are more silvery but the fish is supposed to get darker and have a darker eyestripe in shallow habitats.

Does this sound right or is there another critter it should be? It is a lot more yellowish then the other pictures I have seen.

 

[Jim Greenfield]

The whole photo seems to have a yellowish cast Steve so if you tone it down a bit, the fish may look more "normal". P100 of Humann's Caribbean fish guide, shows a dark phase Gray Snapper which matches yours pretty well apart from the white undersides yours is displaying.
Hope this helps

 

[Steve_C]

That may be it. They can vary a lot. I had wondered if the white was due to flash overloading but that part curves away from the camera and that is not where you would expect a hot spot and it is very uniform. The water was green. I did try toning the yellow down on your suggestion and that did make it look more like a dark phase grey.

 

[wazungu]

yes, it is a grey snapper- they can turn their stripe on and off and can match their background- if in green water, will look sort of green.