Australasian snapper
species of fish
The Australasian snapper (Chrysophrys auratus) or silver seabream is a species of porgie found in coastal waters of Australia, Philippines, Indonesia, mainland China, Taiwan, Japan and New Zealand. Its distribution areas in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres are disjunct. Although it is almost universally known in Australia and New Zealand as snapper, it does not belong to the Lutjanidae snapper family. It is highly prized as an edible fish, with a sweet sea taste and a firm texture.
It is the only species in the genus Chrysophrys, but was previously placed in the genus Pagrus as Pagrus auratus.
Regional variation in naming
Australia: cocknies (young smaller than legal size), red bream or pinkies (legal size), squire or squirefish (when bigger), snapper (at full size)
Western Australia: "pink snapper" to distinguish it from unrelated species
Victoria: also schnapper (ref: Schnapper Point, Mornington)
South Australia: the name "ruggers" is often used for smaller fish of legal size
Aboriginal people of the Port Jackson area in Australia: they called it wollamie (also spelt wollamai, and other variations). European colonists there knew it as the "light horseman", for the resemblance of the fish's skull to the helmet of a light horseman.
New Zealand: snapper (or New Zealand snapper when there is need to distinguish from other species of snapper). Māori: tāmure (adult fish), karatī (juveniles)
Habitat
The Australasian snapper is found on all coasts of New Zealand, especially in the north. In Australia, it is found along the south coast, mainly near Kiama, Berry, Gerringong, Gerroa, Huskisson, Vincentia, and Shoalhaven.
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This entry incorporates text from “Australasian snapper” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.