DerekD Posted May 13, 2013 Share Posted May 13, 2013 When fishing the other week my fishing buddy hooked and landed the Snapper shown in the attached photos.... We realised there was something a little different about this one.... After some further inspection we worked out that we'd found a sub-species in the snapper family. Awesome!!! There are a couple of questions which have since come to mind which the Fishraider community may be able to help with.... What would be the latin name - Pagrus (or Chrysophyrus) auratus tailless (or darrenus after the angler)? Since it has a more aerodynamic (or should that be hydrodynamic) shape how much faster would it swim than a normal snapper? What would be the legal length and where do you measure it to.....? Help with this would be appreciated and please keep it un-serious.... For the record it was released. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nbdshroom Posted May 13, 2013 Share Posted May 13, 2013 Mate, it looks like the snapper are beginning to hybridise with squid and thus, are starting to gain a more streamlined shape for jet propulsion. They work a bit different though, they suck water in through the mouth and force it out through their anus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PRED-ATOR Posted May 13, 2013 Share Posted May 13, 2013 omg how the hell did that thing swim?! im assuming it didnt put up much of a fight? it lost in a game of heads or tails ohhhhh snap! (lame) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scratchie Posted May 13, 2013 Share Posted May 13, 2013 This fish would be called a "plop". Because I'm sure I didn't swim away when you released it! Cheers scratchie!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PRED-ATOR Posted May 13, 2013 Share Posted May 13, 2013 I reckon the fact this fish is still goin is a testimate to its will to live and not let life get him down : ) good on ya snapper you bloody legend Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockfisherman Posted May 13, 2013 Share Posted May 13, 2013 Is it a deformity from pollution or some defective gene, or was its tail bitten off as a small fish and it grown to live its life like that? Fishingphase Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marlin01 Posted May 13, 2013 Share Posted May 13, 2013 PAGARUS PROPELLERLESS It looks very healthy otherwise. Marlin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
f1shen Posted May 13, 2013 Share Posted May 13, 2013 Were you fishing in the Hacking? I caught a little reddie a couple of months back up South West Arm that had its tail bitten off by something nasty. Glad to see that it's doing well! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boattart Posted May 15, 2013 Share Posted May 15, 2013 Hi All, I emailed Julian Pepperell the other day about this fish and directed him to this post. He's very interested and would like more details of when, where and how the fish were caught and any photos of this or other fish with similar injuries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeoB Posted May 15, 2013 Share Posted May 15, 2013 Hi All, I emailed Julian Pepperell the other day about this fish and directed him to this post. He's very interested and would like more details of when, where and how the fish were caught and any photos of this or other fish with similar injuries. Good call I thought of the same thingCheers Leo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adkel53 Posted May 16, 2013 Share Posted May 16, 2013 What would be the latin name - Pagrus (or Chrysophyrus) auratus tailless (or darrenus after the angler)? Maybe - Pagrus auratus ssp. shortarseis? ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerekD Posted May 17, 2013 Author Share Posted May 17, 2013 Hello again, This catch blew us away. It is amazing how life can adapt and make a go of it regardless of the challenges faced. In this case the snapper didn't really have a choice about it but I was impressed at how long this fish had lasted with what i would have expected was a fatal handicap for a fish. We picked it up in Middle harbour amongst some moorings. We were fishing in about 10m of water and kept on getting snapper on freshly caught squid. The fight wasn't far off what you'd expect from a normal snapper of the same size (probably turned side on and used its mass and shape). Interesting thing is the way the injury had healed up so cleanly I suspect it was a birth defect rather than an injury. That is, you might have noticed that it healed to a smooth and sharp point in the photos rather than the stump that you'd expect if it had the tail bitten off. I was really interested in how this fish managed to swim and how much longer it could have lived. I believe that it had reached a size in its life where it would have been safe from being attacked by most of the bread and butter species in that water system thus probably could have lived for years. On the other hand in the long term it might have reached a size where it could not have chased enough food down because of its handicap and died due to starvation. It is certainly food for thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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