LUTJANIDAE
Symphorus
nematophorus
Chinamanfish, Symphorus nematophorus (Bleeker 1860)
Other Names: Chinaman Fish, Chinaman Snapper, Chinaman-fish, Galloper, Thread-finned Sea Perch, Thread-finned Sea-perch
A juvenile Chinamanfish, Symphorus nematophorus, at Naha, Okinawa, Japan. Source: Peter Rask Møller / Fishbase. License: CC BY Attribution-Noncommercial
A large greyish-brown to reddish tropical snapper with a steep snout profile, high dorsal and anal fins, at least one filamentous dorsal-fin ray, and often with broad irregular pale and dark bars on the sides. Juveniles are pale orange to brownish, with irregular bluish stripes and markings on the head and sides, and several long filamentous dorsal-fin rays.
Chinamanfish reportedly cause ciguatera poisoning.
Dianne J. Bray, Symphorus nematophorus in Fishes of Australia, accessed 22 Jan 2022, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/home/species/579
Recorded in Australia from Shark Bay, Western Australia, to Moreton Bay, Queensland, and also Scott Reef, Western Australia. Elsewhere, widespread in the tropical, west Pacific. Inhabits coastal reefs to a depth of about 50 m.
Mesoprion nematophorus Bleeker, 1860, Acta Societ. Scient. Indo-Neerland. 8: 56. Type locality: Badjoa, Sulawesi (as Celebes), Indonesia.
Dianne J. Bray
Allen, G.R. 1985. FAO Species Catalogue. Snappers of the World. An annotated and illustrated catalogue of lutjanid species known to date. FAO Fisheries Synopsis No. 125, Vol. 6. Rome : FAO 208 pp.
Anderson, W.D. & Allen, G.R. 2001. Lutjanidae. pp. 2840-2918 in Carpenter, K.E. & Niem, V.H. (eds). The Living Marine Resources of the Western Central Pacific. FAO Species Identification Guide for Fisheries Purposes. Rome : FAO Vol. 5 2791-3379 pp.
Bleeker, P. 1860. Dertiende bijdrage tot de kennis der vischfauna van Celebes. Visschen van Bonthain, Badjoa, Sindjai, Lagoesi en Pompenoea. Acta Societatis Scientiarum Indo-Neerlandicae 8: 1-60.
Gloerfelt-Tarp, T. & Kailola, P.J. 1984. Trawled Fishes of Southern Indonesia and Northwest Australia. Jakarta : Dir. Gen. Fish. (Indonesia), German Tech. Coop., Aust. Dev. Ass. Bur. 406 pp.
Grant, E.M. 1991. Fishes of Australia. Brisbane : EM Grant Pty Ltd 480 pp.
Halstead, B.W., P.S. Auerbach & D.R. Campbell. 1990. A colour atlas of dangerous marine animals. Wolfe Medical Publications Ltd, W.S. Cowell Ltd, Ipswich, England. 192 pp.
Hutchins, J.B. 2001. Biodiversity of shallow reef fish assemblages in Western Australia using a rapid censusing technique. Records of the Western Australian Museum 20: 247-270.
Kuiter, R.H. 1992. Tropical Reef-Fishes of the Western Pacific, Indonesia and Adjacent Waters. Jakarta : PT Gramedia Pustaka Utama 314 pp. pls.
Kuiter R.W. & Tonozuka, T. 2001. Indonesian Reef Fishes. Part 3. Melbourne : Zoonetics pp. 623–893.
Leis, J.M. & Bray, D.J. 1995. Larval development in the lutjanid subfamily Paradicichthyinae (Pisces): the genera Symphorus and Symphorichthys. Bulletin of Marine Science 56(2): 418-433.
Randall, J.E., 2005. Reef and shore fishes of the South Pacific. New Caledonia to Tahiti and the Pitcairn Islands. University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu, Hawaii. 720 p.
Roughley, T.C. 1957. Fish and Fisheries of Australia. Sydney : Angus & Robertson 341 pp.
Sainsbury, K.J., Kailola, P.J. & Leyland, G.G. 1985. Continental Shelf Fishes of Northern and North-Western Australia. Canberra : Fisheries Information Service 375 pp. figs & pls.
LUTJANIDAE Tropical snappers, fusiliers
Danger:May cause ciguatera poisoning
Fishing:Commercial and sports fish