Species that are considered uncertain risk need a more in-depth assessment beyond the Risk Summary to better define the species’ risk to U.S. environments.
The Blacktail Snapper, Lutjanus fulvus, is a tropical fish native to countries in the Indo-Pacific. This species is capable of living in marine, fresh water, and brackish water environments. Only fresh water and brackish water environments were used to conduct the climate match. The Blacktail Snapper was purposely introduced to coastal Hawaii in the 1950s. L. fulvus there became established but not abundant. No impacts of introduction have been reported for this species, causing the history of invasiveness to be none documented. Lutjanus fulvus is a commercial species in its native range, often found in markets. This species has been known to cause ciguatera poisoning in humans who consume contaminated fish. The climate match for the contiguous United States is medium. Florida, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Texas all received individually high climate scores, while Arkansas, Arizona, California, Georgia, Kansas, and Virginia all received individually medium climate scores. Due to limited information on this species, the certainty of assessment is low. The overall risk assessment category for Lutjanus fulvus is uncertain.
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Uncertain Risk
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