Pacific dog snapper (Lutjanus novemfasciatus), illustration

Sport fishing Lutjanus novemfasciatus

Pacific dog snapper in Los Cabos

The biggest snapper in the eastern Pacific and one of the hardest fish to land: it lives in the rocks, eats at night and has the canine teeth to match its name.

Up to 1.7 mMax length

84 lb 5 ozIGFA world record

14+ yearsFor a population to double

5 per dayLimit per angler

Season in Los Cabos

Jan·Feb·Mar·Apr●May●●Jun●●Jul●●Aug●●Sep●●Oct●Nov●Dec·

●● best months · ● regular · · occasional. Based on local fishing reports; conditions change year to year.

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How to recognize it

Dark olive-brown to copper-red on the back and sides, silvery white lower down, with 8 to 9 dusky bars on the upper half that can fade in big fish. Pointed snout, dark fins in large adults and four large canine teeth at the front of the jaws. The rear edge of the anal fin is rounded.

Biology

Adults live on rocky and coral reefs from southern California to Peru, including the Gulf of California, and stay in or near caves and crevices during the day. At night they come out to feed on crabs, shrimp, octopus, squid and fish.

The young grow up in mangroves, estuaries and river mouths and only move to the reef as they grow. In captivity off Mazatlán they spawned from May to September, peaking in July and August; males matured at about 58 cm and 4 to 5 years, females at about 64 cm and 5 to 6 years.

Things you probably didn't know

Nine bands in its name

Novemfasciatus means "nine-banded", for the faint bars on its sides. The species was first described from a fish caught in Baja California.

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A reef fish that goes up rivers

Juveniles can travel up to 20 km up rivers into fresh water, something few reef fish can do.

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Mangrove nurseries

Young dog snappers grow up among mangrove roots. In a survey of more than 30 mangrove sites in the Gulf of California, dog snappers were larger on average than yellow snappers.

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Hundreds of thousands of eggs

A female can release up to about 330,000 eggs per kilogram of body weight in a single spawn, and the eggs hatch in about 24 hours.

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Slow to recover

FishBase rates its resilience as very low: a population needs more than 14 years to double. Releasing the big breeders matters.

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A Mexican record from 2026

The all-tackle record, 84 lb 5 oz (38.24 kg), was caught at El Morro Island, Puerto Vallarta, on January 2, 2026, replacing a 78 lb 12 oz fish from Costa Rica that had held since 1988. A 92 lb 9 oz fish from Panama’s Pearl Islands is pending review.

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Photos

Pacific dog snapper, photo 1 (Las Hadas, Mzlo.) — Alberto Alcalá · iNaturalist · CC BY 4.0

Pacific dog snapper, photo 2 (Andador Dorado, Cabo San Lucas) — Nathan Nguyen · iNaturalist · CC BY 4.0

Pacific dog snapper, photo 3 (San Luciano shipwreck, Mzlo.) — Alberto Alcalá · iNaturalist · CC BY 4.0

Pacific dog snapper, photo 4 (MX) — Reizo Knapp · iNaturalist · CC BY 4.0

Pacific dog snapper, photo 5 (Centro, Ildefonso Green) — José Javier Barrios Flores · iNaturalist · CC BY 4.0

How it's caught in Los Cabos

Around Los Cabos, local reports describe a seasonal inshore fishery for big snapper from mid-May through June, over rocky reefs near the beaches. Gordo Banks reports from 2010–2026 show big fish then caught on the banks through October, often on chunks of skipjack.

The usual method is live bait slow-trolled or drifted right next to the rocks. A big snapper's first move is back into its cave, so it takes heavy tackle, a strong leader and a captain who keeps the boat in the right position.

On the table

A quality food fish with white, firm meat and a high market price.

Rules, records & conservation

Daily limit (NOM-017-PESC-1994)	Up to 5 per angler per day, within the 10-fish total
IUCN Red List	Least Concern
IGFA all-tackle record	84 lb 5 oz (38.24 kg), El Morro Island, Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, 2026
Cabo Pulmo National Park	Sport fishing not allowed

Don't confuse it with

The barred pargo (Hoplopagrus guentherii) has a deeper body, about 6 double bars, a tube-shaped front nostril and molar-like teeth. Pargo colorado (Lutjanus colorado) is darker red, has a pointed anal fin, loses its bars as an adult and is smaller. Pargo amarillo (Lutjanus argentiventris) is yellow with a broken blue line under the eye. The Atlantic "dog snapper" is another species altogether.

How to tell Cabo’s groupers and snappers apart ›