By John
I need an ID for this St Thomas fish. I was going through snorkeling photos from a trip there in March 2025 and couldn’t identify it. I saw it on a shallow reef (six feet deep?), not far from the beach. Can someone help me? (Apologies for the grainy photo.)
Hi John, this one is challenging. Our best guess is a Mutton Snapper. See on iNaturalist here and on Reef Guide here.
It looks like emperors we have seen, but there is only one species in the Caribbean and it doesn’t look like this fish.
Maybe someone else will chime in if they know it.
Thanks for your feedback. That seems as good a guess as any. The other Mutton Snappers I saw on that trip were all silver with the distinctive black spot below its rear dorsal fin. But, having read some more about snappers, I now realize their colors can vary a great deal and vertical bars can appear when the fish is at rest, as I believe this one was.
Could it just be a juvenile parrotfish? Maybe one that hasn’t gone full terminal color yet?
Yes juvenile reef parrot initial stage.
Hi Linda, I don’t see a Reef Parrotfish in the Caribbean. Do you have a scientific name?
We don’t believe it is a parrotfish; this fish does not have the small mouth with a beak like a parrotfish.
I don’t know much about juvenile parrotfish but to me this looks like a Mutton Snapper. We catch a lot of these in Key Largo and often have to throw them back as they must be quite large to keep. So I learned to identify them! They do look different in water vs. out of course. It being next to the Yellowtail Snapper is also consistent with it being a Mutton. I also think I MIGHT see the spot on its back?
Juvenile Mutton Snapper. It might be camouflaging for the night, hence the coloration – they adjust their color a bit at night to blend in better.