How to Identify Bluestripe Snapper and Bengal Snapper

The Bluestripe Snapper, Lutjanus kasmira, is widespread from the Red Sea to French Polynesia. A very similar fish, the Bengal Snapper, Lutjanus bengalensis is found in the Indian Ocean and Coral Triangle to southern Japan. They can be very tricky to tell apart.

The most obvious difference is the color on the belly. The Bluesripe Snapper has faint thin yellow stripes on the belly, while the Bengal Snapper has a plain white belly. But in a poorly lit or out-of-focus photo, this may not be visible.

Another difference is on the lower head. The Bluestripe Snapper has a fifth blue stripe that runs from under the eye to the pectoral fin. This stripe does not appear on the Bengal Snapper. Note that this applies to adults; this fifth stripe appears on juveniles when they reach about 70mm long.

The blue body stripes on the Bluestripe Snapper are narrower than the stripes on Bengal Snapper.

A sometimes cited difference is where the middle body stripe starts, but this feature has been found to be unreliable.

Reference: Comparison of Lutjanus bengalensis from the western Pacific with a related species, L. kasmira, and variations in both species (Perciformes: Lutjanidae) by Yukio Iwatsuki, Tetsuo Yoshino & Kazuhiko Shimada.