What are snapper?
Snapper are a moderately sized fish, generally ranging from 30 – 90 cm in length but have been found up to 130 cm long. They are a type of bream and are commonly found on the east coast of Australia.
These fish are sometimes called Sydney Red Snapper, Old Man Snapper, Cockney Bream and Pinkies. The traditional Darug name for snapper is wulumay. The scientific name is Chrysophrys auratus.
What do snapper look like?
Snapper have a distinctive convex shape, a large pointed snout and a prominent forehead hump that develops as they mature. This enlargement of bone is known as hyperostosis. Snapper have a reddish-orange body colour with fine bright blue spots scattered over the top half of their sides. They have a silvery under belly and mostly transparent pinkish-white fins. Young snapper have dark vertical bands on their sides and their fins are even more transparent than the adults.
What do snapper eat?
Snapper are carnivorous fish. Juvenile snapper eat crabs, worms and other invertebrates. The adults eat smaller fish, jelly fish and a broad range of hard-shelled invertebrates which they easily crush with their strong jaws and sharp teeth.
How are snapper adapted to their environment?
Snapper have streamlined boies, which enables them to move swiftly through the water. They also have well developed fins that help them to slow down and turn quickly and a powerful forked tail which can propel them through the water at speeds of up to seven times their body length in one second. At times, snapper gather in large schools called aggregations which provides them with greater breeding opportunities and better protection from predators.
What is the life cycle of snapper?
Snapper start their lives in an egg spawned off the coast of an estuary. When they hatch, the snapper larvae will find their way to the mouth of a river and it is here where they will live for a number of months. As the juvenile snapper pass one year of age they begin to travel to more coastal habitats. Snapper mature between three and five years of age and can live for more than forty years. The adults live on deeper offshore reefs.
How are snapper important to Aboriginal people?
The snapper is an integral part of Wallumedegal Dreaming and so is intrinsic to the Wallumedegal, the people of the snapper. The snapper is a totem of the Aboriginal people who traditionally occupied the lands around the junction of Lane Cove River and Parramatta River. Their land care processes, including that of waterways, and resource management systems are informed by the movement of and their connection to snapper.
