The aquaculture section at SFA has managed to produce the first batch of juvenile Emperor Snapper raised in Seychelles. Emperor Snapper (Lutjanus sebae) is difficult to breed but due to its high market price it is one of the species of interest for aquaculture in Seychelles.
The experience gained with Emperor Snapper has demonstrated that the adults are highly adaptable and will naturally spawn in captivity. The larvae are unusually small and rotifers, which is a standard first feed for marine finfish, are insufficient as a first feed. SFA is in the process of testing a different method which resulted in the first success.
Emperor Snapper is very adaptable with regards to camouflage. In the sea at more than 10 m deep red light starts to disappear due to its less energetic longer wave lengths. Thus, a red fish will appear brownish in deeper water. When Emperor Snapper is kept in shallow well-lit tanks, they will exhibit little red and melt away in the background. Juvenile Emperor Snapper is so dark red that they appear almost black and white. If a strong light is shown from behind their red color can be seen.
Much experimentation is still needed to refine the production of this species, but the results thus far have been encouraging. During a small grow out experiment they grew much faster than has been reported in New Caledonia (French overseas territory) indicating that the temperatures in Seychelles are more ideal. During these experiments the FCR (Food conversion ratio) achieved was low (less than 1.3) indicating that this species could be efficiently produced via aquaculture.
Figure 1: One week old (left) and two weeks old (right) emperor snapper
Figure 2: Three and a half week old emperor snapper busy metamorphosing into a juvenile from larvae
Figure 3: Six week old emperor snapper juvenile (average weight: 2g)