Rusty Jobfish

The rusty jobfish (Aphareus rutilans) is a slim, fork-tailed snapper that lives far deeper than most of its family and hunts at night. Most snappers keep to moderate depths, while this one is commonest between 100 and 250m.

It lives over rocky bottoms and on deep coral and rocky reefs, from 10m down to about 330m, with juveniles on inshore reefs. It ranges widely across the Indo-Pacific, from the Gulf of Aqaba, the Red Sea and East Africa to Hawaii, southern Japan and Australia.

Appearance

The body is long, flattened from the sides and tapered at both ends, and the lower jaw juts past the upper. The mouth reaches back to below the middle of the eye, and there is a flat area between the eyes. The tail is deeply forked to almost crescent-shaped. Colour runs from bluish grey through mauve to reddish, with yellowish to reddish dorsal, pectoral and tail fins and a dark upper lip. Most fish seen are nearer 79cm than the full 110cm, and the heaviest weigh about 11kg.

Feeding

A nocturnal predator, it hunts mainly fish and also takes squid and other cephalopods, crustaceans and gastropods. Its jaws carry thin bands of small teeth.

Life cycle

Spawning has been recorded in spring and summer in Vanuatu, peaking in November and December.

Threats

It is locally common through much of its range and turns up often in fish markets. In Hawaii it is taken only as bycatch, yet the stock there is thought to be depleted and catch limits apply.

Relationship with people

Most are caught on handlines and vertical long lines, and spearfishers take it too. Being locally common across so much of its range, it matters to many deep-water fisheries, where it makes up a sizeable part of what is landed.