Lutjanidae Gill 1861

Family Lutjanidae Gill 1861 View in CoL View at ENA ( Fig. 4N View FIGURE 4 ). Snappers, Jobfishes, Rabirrubias; Pargos

Description: Body ovate to elongate, usually robust or slightly compressed; up to 170 cm in length; mouth terminal, moderate to large; most with enlarged canine teeth on jaws, small teeth on palatines and usually on vomer; maxilla slips beneath preorbital when mouth closed; supramaxilla absent; no enlarged pores on chin; snout, below eye and lower jaw scale-less; preoperculum serrated; pelvic fins inserted just behind pectoral fin base; dorsal fin continuous or with a shallow notch, with 9–12 spines and 9–18 soft rays; anal fin with 3 spines and 7–11 soft rays; caudal fin truncate to deeply forked ( Robertson & Allen 2015, Nelson et al. 2016). Distribution: Marine (rarely in estuaries and freshwaters); tropical and subtropical, Atlantic, Indian and Pacific oceans ( Nelson et al. 2016). One genus and eight species in Nicaraguan freshwaters.