The results of our research! The world’s first exhibit of the giant ruby snapper

Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium is pleased to announce the world’s first exhibit of the giant ruby snapper Etelis boweni.

≪オオアカムツ≫
Scientific name：Etelis boweni
English name：Giant Ruby Snapper

The giant ruby snapper is distributed across the Indo-Pacific. This species of snapper is in the genus Etelis. In Japan, they have only been found around the Osumi Islands. It has been mistaken for its close relative the deep-water red snapper, but was reported as a new species in 2021. It was officially recorded for the first time in Japanese waters in 2023 and researchers proposed the Japanese name Oakamutsu. This species grows larger than the deep-water red snapper, and its caudal fin has a distinctive black upper lobe.

Deep-water red snapper closely resembling the giant ruby snapper.

This individual was collected in October 2024 offshore of Okinawa Main Island at a depth of 320 meters. It was first identified as the deep-water red snapper when it was transported to the aquarium. However, because of the coloration of its head and fins, further research took place. After studying its morphology and its genetics it was determined to be the giant ruby snapper Etelis boweni. After being treated in the gravity pressure compression chamber we could find its total length as approximately 60 cm. It was then sent to the Deep Sea tank (capacity 230 m3), the largest tank in the Journey into the Deep Sea corner as the world’s first exhibit.

Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium will continue to conduct deep-sea surveys in the waters near Okinawa, and shed light on the ecology of rare deep-sea creatures through rearing and exhibiting.