Sphyraena novaehollandiae
Snook
Distribution
Temperate Australasia, Tropical Indo-Pacific
Description
Member of the barracuda family, the species can be recognised by its elongate body with two short dorsal fins that approximately match the positions of the ventral and anal fines. The snook is a fast moving carnivore that generally lives near the sea surface and will take a trolled bait. The species is also occasionally seen by divers along reef edges that adjoin patchy seagrass and sand.
Information
Max Size: 100 cm
Sea Temperature Range: 11.6-22.9°C
Depth: 0-20m
Habitat Generalization Index: N/A
Also referred to as the SGI (Species Generalisation Index), this describes the habitat niche breadth of the species. Species with values less than 15 are found in a relatively narrow range of reef habitat types (specialists), while those over 25 may be found on most hard substrates within their range (generalists). Learn more here.
Conservation and Rarity
IUCN Status: Not Evaluated
Occurrence: Infrequent (5.4% of sites)
Occurrence describes how often the species is found on surveys within its distribution. It is calculated as the % of reef sites surveyed by RLS divers across all the ecoregions in which the species has been observed
Abundance: Several (8 per transect)
Abundance is calculated as the average number of individuals recorded per RLS transect, where present.
Edit by: GJ Edgar. 2008. Australian Marine Life. New Holland, Sydney